Her Dark Knight
by Death-Shade 666
Summary: Hermione's petrification in second year makes Harry reevaluate his feelings for her. The following events give birth to a strong man who swears to protect the one person that matters to him the most. A/N: My first story. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

A/N: My first story. So, please be kind enough to give me some positive reviews. Criticism is welcome as long as it is constructive. The plot is already decided so, please don't be disappointed because I can't take your suggestions and build the story on it. Thank you for your time.

Minerva McGonagall watched both of her students as they looked at the prone figure of Hermione Granger on the hospital bed. The red haired boy's expression was one of shock and sadness. His eyes were teary. However, his companion's expression was one that she was beginning to get concerned about. It was completely blank. Nothing, absolutely nothing, showed on his face. His green eyes, inherited from his mother, which were always so expressive, showed nothing. She couldn't understand this reaction. Most kids would be sad or angry. But the lad was totally unresponsive. He wasn't in shock, though, of that she was sure. His pupils weren't dilated, he wasn't hyperventilating or seemed to be having a panic attack. That worried her. Normal reactions she could understand. But, the boy seemed to be controlling his emotions to an extent that even the best occlumens in the world would be incapable of doing. However, even more worrying was the slight aura, flaring, around the boy. Dark purple in color and pulsing sinisterly. She knew that projection of an aura by a wizard was not possible unless that wizard had enough power. And by the looks of it, Harry Potter seemed to have power in spades. He hadn't even reached his first magical maturity and he was already displaying an aura, however, faint it might be. People start displaying auras as their power levels increase with time and magical maturities. The fact that most people who have already reached their second and in some cases final, magical maturity don't have auras would make what Mr. Potter was displaying to be all that much special and scary.

And dark purple itself had a very dangerous significance. Dark purple was said to be the color of the auras of the battle mages of old. Aura colors signify the occupation the person would be best suited to and general mindset of the person wielding them. Red and crimson were the colors of teachers and researchers, respectively. Blue and green were the colors of healers and herbologists, respectively. Purple and indigo were the colors of mages and soldiers. The darker the color, the more the person's personality and mindset matches the occupation. Her own aura was a deep red, bordering on burgundy. She was a teacher through and through. There were only a few people now that could even claim to have that specific color. It was really rare and to see it possessed by a mere twelve year old was shocking to the seventy year old woman. She knew then and there, in the hospital wing of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, surrounded by students, a ghost and a cat, that the wizarding world was going to shake on its knees when Mr. Harry Potter would be a fully fledged wizard, with his entire power at his disposal.

Meanwhile, the green eyed, black haired, boy's thoughts were focused on someone entirely different. He watched as his best female friend lay in the hospital wing, petrified by something that even the teachers weren't able to identify. He looked at the one person that had begun to matter the most to him in the past year or so. True, he had another friend in Ron but he had seen the redhead to be distancing himself from Harry when the entire school had started to believe that Harry was behind the attacks on the muggleborns. Hermione on the other hand had only grown closer to him by showing unwavering support. He started to contemplate his relationship with the bushy, brown haired girl. The first time he had seen her he hadn't been impressed. Quoting the textbook, spouting off rules and acting bossy and nagging all over. Then they started to have encounters which always seemed to turn into arguments and spats, which included a few heated words but had never been insulting to any of them. However, that all changed on Halloween. When he had heard Ron say those awful words behind her back, he took a trip down memory lane. He remembered how his own family had treated him, with contempt and hatred.

His own uncle called him names and even hit him. Not much but enough to make sure Harry knew what his position was in the house. His aunt, his flesh and blood, starved him and insulted him at every chance. She made him work like a slave and didn't even bother to give him enough to eat. But, the thing that hurt the most was the care shown by his aunt and uncle towards their son. He had his every demand and wish fulfilled without much resistance. This behavior pampered his cousin to an extent that he started to believe that he was entitled to things without having to work for them. He also remembered that he didn't have any friends before he came to Hogwarts.

Introspection followed all of this. Harry was disgusted by his behavior towards someone who didn't deserve such abuse. He also started to see Ron in a new light. The redhead had insulted an innocent girl just because she was better at something than him. True, she had been a little bossy but Harry himself was punished for doing better than Dudley in primary school. So, he could relate to Hermione better than anyone on that. While, he hadn't insulted the girl personally, he hadn't intervened on her behalf either. He thought back to the times when he had been bullied and at that time the only thought had been 'Please, someone, anyone, help me!' How could he have stood by and watched while an innocent had been subjected to the same thing as him had appalled him. This self observation had taken him to the Halloween feast.

Right, then the troll had been let in by Quirinus Quirrell as a diversion. And, the first thought that had crossed his mind had been that of Hermione. He just took Ron and headed towards the last place Hermione had been rumored to have been. He had noticed Ron's hesitance while following him. He couldn't fault him for that, though, because a troll on the loose was something to be concerned about. When he had heard the scream of terror from the bathroom he had just locked, his heart had skipped a few beats and his lips had turned dry. The next thing he remembered was leading the charge into the bathroom, trying to distract the dumb creature, trying to pull Hermione from her hiding place and finally jumping onto the head of the troll just when it was going to smash its large, wooden club into the cowering girl. When Hermione had lied for them both to the teachers, he had been ready to reveal the real reason for her to have been there in the bathroom in the first place. But, he had thought the better of it and later apologized to Hermione for hurting her. Ron hadn't even bothered. This had dropped his opinion of the redhead even lower.

Then, all throughout the rest of the year Hermione had helped him do his homework and provided guidance to him whenever necessary. She even braved going with him into the third floor corridor with him when he had insisted on going to save the damn stone from the mummified Voldemort. But, the thing that had really changed his outlook of Hermione had been the hug she had given him just before he entered into the final chamber. That one act had endeared her to him so much that he could think of little else than her during the following summer. When there had been no correspondence from her, he had been more depressed than he could have ever been. However, all that changed on the day that Dobby had come to see him. Dobby had been succeeding in his endeavor to keep Harry from Hogwarts until he had seen her letters. The moment he had seen Hermione's tidy handwriting on those letters his heart had swelled with an emotion he could not describe. That more than anything else had increased his resolve to see her at school. When he later saw her at the bookstore in Diagon Alley he had been ecstatic. He could not understand his feelings though, which confused him. And then they had returned to school only for someone to start attacking muggleborns. They had suspected Draco Malfoy at first. When Hermione had consumed the polyjuice potion with the cat's hair in it he had been devastated. He could not bear to see her distress. The moment Ron had cracked the joke about her tail he would have made the redhead pay. Honestly, the boy didn't know about appropriate timings. But it was temporary thing and he had been relieved to find her back in shape by the end of January. He had never considered bringing her schoolbag to the hospital wing and taking notes in class for her a chore. He just did it gladly to see her smile when he would heave her heavier than average book bag.

But, never in a lifetime would he have thought that he would see her lying there on the hospital wing bed looking so lost and vulnerable. The one person that truly cared for him was magically turned to stone. She wouldn't smile anymore, wouldn't spout out some unknown fact that she read from an unknown book and she certainly wouldn't nag him to do his homework while she was in this state.

He couldn't feel anything for a second but that all changed. Fury and hatred rose from deep within him. As he watched her brown eyes looking into space blankly his anger and hatred reached a crescendo in him. He looked at her blankly though. Anyone looking at him would think he wasn't even there. That wasn't true though. Only he knew how he could keep all of that emotion from showing on his face. It was because he had a purpose to go with all that emotion. 'Find the one responsible and make them bleed. Make them beg for mercy.' He was staring at her and he himself was stuck in that position making him look like a statue. Suddenly he looked around and saw that it was already evening and he was sitting on a chair beside her bed. He didn't know how long he'd been here staring at her. The hospital looked to be deserted apart from him. He couldn't even remember telling Ron to go to dinner without him, assuring McGonagall that he was fine and sending Pomfrey off to dinner as well.

His eyes sought her out again. Her bushy, untamable, brown hair splayed on the fluffy pillows, her arm outstretched to hold out the mirror(now lying on her bedside table), her eyes looking into the distance, widened with fear. His anger and hatred had not faded in the least.

"Hello, dear girl. It should have been me in that bed with you in this chair. Today was a quidditch match after all." A deep sob escaped his lips, and just like that his entire anger and hatred had dissolved into grief.

"Why you? Why, Hermione? Is it because of me? Am I the reason for you to be in that bed? Have I put you there? Maybe it is. After all I couldn't solve the god damn puzzle of who is doing this" he whispered. His entire demeanor changed by now. The look that came over him was one of determination and vengeance. "But, I know one thing, dear girl, whoever it is, they attacked the wrong person. They are going to find out the hard way that Hermione Granger is to be left alone. Whoever it may be, they are going to regret the day they decided to attack you, I swear! Be it a student, a teacher or even that Dark Tosser himself, they will regret this. I promise you this, I will do whatever is necessary to make them pay." His chest heaving with emotion and his aura flaring made him look really intimidating.

"And, I am not going to any teacher for help, Hermione. They are just a bunch of bastards that care about their own images and nonsensical rules that they have become incompetent."He chuckled, "I'm sorry about swearing, Hermione, but that's the truth. They are incapable of doing anything important as you remember last year. McGonagall didn't even think it important enough to at least hear us out. Sorry, but I am not going to waste my breath over them. I'll just do this alone. I don't think I can count on Ron's help either. His priorities are quidditch, chess and food, as you very well know. But, I may... no, will, need your help from time to time. I'll try to do it alone, but I know that without the help of the smartest witch of the generation I won't be able to. I also promise you that I'll make an effort in classes from now on. That might seem like a joke but I realized that your opinion of me matters to me more than anything else. I will also go and tell McGonagall to change my electives from divination to ancient runes and arithmancy. They seemed to have a future use in studying deeper aspects of magic. Surprising, isn't it? Incidents like these put things into perspective, don't they? You really start to understand what's important."

"Well, that's it for today, I suppose. I'll come back again tomorrow. See, if I can get something on the chamber of secrets. Until tomorrow, Hermione." He gently kissed her forehead like he had seen the parents of the other kids in primary school had done with their charges. It felt unusual, good but unusual to be doing this to her. He genuinely hoped nobody had seen this. It felt intimately private. He turned and left the hospital wing with vengeance and determination raging in his heart. Had he stayed or even turned during his exit he would have seen Hermione's eyes crinkle slightly as if smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

After he had left the hospital he went to the library alone. He started searching every book on magic that he could lay his hands on. He found nothing of importance in those books, but he did get a nice read and found out many things that he had previously not known. He then started to read as much as possible in the next few weeks. A couple of days after the attack on Hermione, he and Ron went down to meet Hagrid to find out whether he had been behind the attacks. Just then the Minister of Magic and Lucius Malfoy entered into Hagrid's house to arrest him and Albus Dumledore also got sacked by the board of governors at the same time. After a herbology class they had found and followed a cryptic clue from Hagrid and tailed the spiders into the Forbidden Forest. They found out that Aragog, Hargid's gigantic acromantula friend, had never killed anybody in the past but something else had. They had barely escaped the hungry horde of acromantula that had insisted on making them their main course at dinner.

Harry, then started to research animals and creatures capable of petrifying people. But, he had found out nothing from them. Meanwhile, he started to train himself in casting spells and curses. He also worked on transfiguration and charms. He had already learnt the disarming spell, the full body bind spell and found some more. He also looked up battle transfiguration and battle charms in the library. The stuff was advanced, beyond NEWT level, but he knew that he was brilliant when he put his mind to something. After all his parents had been geniuses in those fields before they had died, or so he had heard. He started off slow, like animating a duster or transfiguring a guinea pig into guinea fowl and so on. He learnt the summoning and banishing spells. He studied ahead towards fourth year and above slowly. In a month or so he was capable of casting every spell until his fifth year in transfiguration and charms. This was a true achievement since no twelve year old could honestly boast about being capable enough of doing all that he was currently accomplishing. But he knew that this would not even be a problem to whoever he would be facing for vengeance. He had been doing this in an abandoned classroom on the third floor corridor. Harry had started using his invisibility cloak liberally to sneak around the heightened security in the castle. He stayed up late to finish his assignments and woke up early to get in whatever time was possible to train before breakfast.

Ron was another matter entirely. He had begun slacking off so much that his homework was never complete these days. The teachers had believed this was due to Hermione's attack. In a way they were right. It was due to Hermione's attack that Ron wasn't completing his homework, but not because he was depressed. But because he was just too lazy to complete it on his own without her help. Harry had slowly started to become disillusioned by Ron. He was just another Dudley. Just less pampered and less stupid. Ron had a brain, yes, but it was almost constantly engaged in eating or chess or quidditch. Harry was not sure he could say anything bad about Ron; after all he was behaving just like an average twelve year old would be expected to behave. However, he had expected Ron to realize, after all the events that had happened to them since the beginning of their first year, that life wasn't always roses and lilies. It seemed though that Ron didn't concern himself with the past much and concentrated on the present more. An admirable sentiment, though, one which was completely inappropriate at the moment. Still, he kept his friendship with Ron. After all, what person could face their worst fears physically multiplied at least twenty times and still stand strong? It was the only thing that Harry found appreciative of his red haired friend. There was no doubt Ron belonged in Gryffindor, he was really brave. A little diligence on Ron's part and the boy would turn into a meritorious friend.

Harry had almost been kicked out of the library by Madam Pince on the day he had hurled a book across the library. Only his incessant begging had made the vulture like woman to let him stay, but only after throwing him a glare that Snape would have been proud of. Why had he thrown a book, one may ask. The reason was that all his relentless research had provided him nothing with regards to what was attacking students. His frustration was mounting and his continuous training had exhausted him so much that he had dark circles under his eyes. His training was progressing well though, so that was consolation enough. He also made enough time to go and sit with Hermione in the hospital wing. Later that day he had gone down to see her and as he sat beside her he silently prayed for her to help him anyway possible. It seemed that she was helping him even in that state when he saw the piece of parchment clearly torn from a book which gave a detailed description of the Basilisk. He had almost slapped himself for being so stupid that he hadn't realized it was a snake in the first place. He was evidently listening to voices speaking in Parseltongue: the language of the snakes.

He had been ecstatically heading towards the common room to share this information with Ron when the magically enhanced voice of McGonagall reached him warning all the students to return to their dormitories and instructing all the staff to head to the staff room. In a split second decision he had taken out his invisibility cloak out of his bag, twirled it around him and headed towards the staff room. He discovered that Ginny Weasley had been taken into the chamber of secrets. However, what was supposed to be a crucial moment degenerated into a pissing contest between the teachers and the blonde, overblown, ponce, Gilderoy Lockhart . The staff, in their infinite wisdom, took the, brilliant and magnificent(sarcasm fully intended), decision to send the ponce to find Ginny Weasley. The rest hadn't even bothered to look for the girl, they simply planned for the imminent evacuation of the school. Just proved their incompetence to Harry.

After they left he recalled the conversation he had with Aragog on the night they had visited the acromantula colony. He remembered Aragog saying that the girl, that had died fifty years ago, had been found in a bathroom. He recalled that the only bathroom that had a dead ghost was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom on the second floor. He immediately headed down from the staff room to the second floor where the bathroom was. As he descended he saw the blonde ponce trying to drag two heavy looking trunks downstairs. Harry had no illusions that Lockhart was trying to help the Weasley girl, though. So, without hesitation Harry snapped his wand into his hand and shot a disarmer combined with a full body bind intending to take him with him on the rescue mission. However, in his haste and raging emotions the two spells were so strong that the ponce was knocked on his back and he fell over the banister and tumbled to his death. Harry watched horrified as he took the life of another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in two years. He rushed over to the banister and peered down to see the body of the professor bent in odd angles and blood pooling beneath his broken body. The sight of the dead body killed by his actions, no matter how unintentional, would haunt Harry forever.

Harry headed towards his original destination in a daze. As he reached the bathroom he saw the message written over the wall in blood, 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever'. The message made him think about the frozen body of Hermione and his sense of vengeance welled up. It had an added benefit of bringing things to focus. He remembered Hermione's belief in the blond ponce. The man had been trying to run from doing his duty to the people that believed in him. He might not have deserved death but the man was a coward who had been running from his responsibility. He was a man that didn't deserve the respect and adulation heaped upon him. What Harry didn't know that Gilderoy Lockhart's name would be hated and reviled by this time next week, after the revelations of many shocking truths about him due to the breaking of numerous memory charms with the man's death.

The memory of Hermione had also fuelled his rage and vindictiveness so much that he went into the bathroom with the sole purpose of finding the one responsible and ending their existence. What Harry didn't know, again, was that his personality was that of a battle mage. Battle mages took death, in the middle of a battle, in stride, since it would not do have an anxiety attack in the middle of a battle where every second counted. However, the demerit of this was that the feelings of guilt and more would come back and attack the mages with double the intensity after the battle was over. It seemed that the symptom was inversely related to adrenaline levels in the body. More the adrenaline, less is the effect of the feelings. However, right now Harry had a one track mind and that was to enter into the chamber of secrets.

His brief talk with Myrtle, showed him the entrance to the chamber and a simple password in Parseltongue had opened the entrance. Harry took a deep breath and jumped down the tunnel. He shot out the tunnel at the bottom and fell on his backside on a a slimy rock hard surface. He stood up, lit his wand and straightened his glasses which had unhinged a bit on his slide down and headed down the tunnel. As he reached the end of the tunnel the light from his wand fell on the discarded snake skin. The only reaction that Harry had was a brief narrowing of eyes. Unknown to him his expression had again changed into the emotionless, cold mask that had first appeared in the hospital wing when he had first laid eyes on Hermione's frozen body. The purpose, this time was, kill the damn snake, size be damned. His aura flared again though he didn't notice. With the expression held firmly and the aura pulsing around him he strode confidently towards the only door into the chamber. A hissed command and the doors opened allowing him entry.

He watched dispassionately as the torches in the brackets came alive casting shadows along the huge room. He noticed a limp form at the base of a statue of an old monkey. As he hurried down the path towards the figure he observed another person heading towards him. As the person came into focus, "Tom Riddle? What the hell are you doing here?" Harry's question reverberated in the empty chamber.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

As the person came into focus, "Tom Riddle? What the hell are you doing here?" Harry's question reverberated in the empty chamber. Harry's green eyes observed as the sixteen year old handsome boy walked into the room. The boy seemed to be a bit hazy around the edges, as if Harry was looking at him through a misted window. The confident stride of the boy, the unconcerned appearance and the intense look in the boy's eyes gave Harry a brainwave. "It was you, wasn't it? You are the attacker, aren't you?" Harry had a look of deep contemplation.

"My, My, Harry Potter! You sure are curious and intelligent! After all not many could connect me to the chamber of secrets. To them I was a model student, brilliant and skilled. I had every teacher admiring me. Here I was an orphan proving to everyone else that I was..."

Whatever Tom was would never be known because Harry cut him off before he could proceed. "Yeah, yeah, so you are a brilliant and skilled arsehole that clearly has some racism issues! You should have gone to a shrink, you know! You could have gotten yourself straightened up with a few galleons maybe. Oh, wait, does the wizarding world have psychotherapists? Uh, never mind!"

Why was Harry insulting an evidently dangerous person, one may ask? The answer would be two part. Firstly, because he was a battle mage, a person who can smile in the face of death. Unknown to him, his innate characteristics helped him to ditch any fear and look at any dangerous situation with detachment. And secondly, because this Riddle character seemed like he loved the sound of his own voice. He had seen some bad guys do this on the telly. Of course he had only been able to see it when he used to get a break from his chores or when his uncle used to forget about locking his door to the cupboard under the stairs. He hoped to get as much information as possible to end this son of a bitch by insulting him. Classic therapy for a psychopathic megalomaniac.

Riddle's face took on a dirty look. "You think this is funny, Potter? You dare speak to me in such a fashion? Do you know who I truly am? You should be on your knees, begging for mercy, not standing there cracking inconsequential jokes!"

"Jeez, can you be anymore conceited? Frankly, I don't care if you are Merlin's reincarnate or Morgana's illegitimate love child! Just tell me how you still exist. And how you still look so young while doing so. You should physically be about seventy years old."

"Ah! Now, do you see my brilliance? Maybe, you don't after all since you still are cracking foolish jokes. Let me tell you a bit about myself!" He then proceeded to use the wand in his hand to write out the letters TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE and changed them to I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. "See, Harry Potter? Now, do you see who you have been facing all this time? I have achieved greatness and power, the likes of which have, never been seen before! You honestly didn't expect me to keep my filthy, muggle father's name, did you? The imbecile left my mother before I was even born. No, I fashioned myself a new name! A name that..."

"HA, HA, HA..." Loud laughter cut off Riddle's monologue. Riddle saw Harry bended over wheezing with laughter and grew incensed. "WHAT DO YOU FIND FUNNY, POTTER?" he roared.

Harry put up his left forefinger up, his right hand still holding his wand, in a universal sign of 'wait a moment'. Harry visibly composed himself though Riddle could still see a smile on his face and said, "I am sorry when I said illegitimate, love child. I just didn't know it was true. Seriously, is this what this is all about? Your hatred for muggles and muggleborns is because daddy didn't want you as a kid? All of this is because daddy dearest didn't give you a teddy bear and hug before kissing you good night? What's next? Would you need a tissue to wipe your nose because you are going to cry? Honestly, you insane, motherfucker, if half the world thought like you did, there wouldn't have been a world by now! And, those people would have a better reason than you do! 'Boo Hoo! Daddy doesn't love me or mommy! What am I gonna do? Oh, I know! I will kill innocent men, women and children! ' " The last part was said in a mock high pitch baby voice. "You still should have gone to a shrink! But enough of this! I am here to finish you. So, I'd rather not waste my time with your foolish rambling.'"

"You expect to kill me? Oh, and why is that? Is it because I killed your parents? Or is it because I hurt your little mudblood girlfriend?" Riddle taunted.

"You could never have touched my parents like you are right now, a weakened, bastard of a wraith that has to possess someone to even stay alive. They would have roasted you on a barbecue with some nice sauce and chilled beers. And don't even start about Hermione. She would have kicked your arse ten ways to Sunday with her hands tied behind her back."

"Their current conditions don't seem to inspire much faith right now do they? Your parents are dead and the girl was petrified by my pet. I AM THE GREATEST WIZARD ALIVE! ALBUS DUMBLEDORE HIMSELF WAS DRIVEN OUT OF THIS CASTLE BY THE MERE MEMORY OF ME! A memory that has been preserved perfectly in the book that this silly little girl has been writing in since last year! Poor, little Ginny Weasley! The girl's incessant whining was really annoying." Harry could now see the book held in the girl's arms. 'So, that is where Riddle's essence is. If I can find a way to destroy the accursed thing, maybe, I can end this nuisance for good' Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Riddle's monologue.

He couldn't understand how anyone could be so vain and conceited that they would give away their one secret, even if it was not directly."But, I was patient! I was kind. I always did have a way with words. Poor Ginny Weasley loved me! I was her friend! I was her confidant! And I was leeching off her soul and life force. One bit at a time to gather enough energy to get out of the diary and gain a corporeal form. I also possessed her to attack muggleborns around the castle. I made her kill Hagrid's roosters, write those messages in blood and even made her to attack the one person I found out mattered the most to you." Harry decided to stop Riddle from talking him to death. After all he had gotten what he needed.

"And again, you prove to me how much of a pathetic, worthless, bag of flobberworm shit you are! After all you couldn't even dare to possess a full grown wizard. You had to go be a bloody pervert and possess a defenseless first year. Can you get any more miserable? You're nothing but a spoilt child throwing a temper tantrum. But, the worst mistake you have ever done was attacking Hermione. You should never have touched her. I don't care about Albus too-many-bloody-middle-names Dumbledore or even the idiotic girl that wrote in your fucking diary. What I do care about is the girl lying in the hospital wing because of you. So, the bottom line is you are a danger to her and are not allowed to live any longer. I am going to kill you."

"I see that fear is not something you are well acquainted with. Very well then, if you are so eager to die! Perhaps a demonstration is in order!" $Speak to me Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.$ Riddle hissed at the statue.

A deep rumbling was heard by Harry and as he turned to look at the mouth of the statue, he saw an enormous shape moving in the shadows. Just then Harry felt a spell hit him. He felt his arms snap to his sides and his entire body went rigid. Harry felt himself falling backwards. A cold laugh reverberated through the vast hall. "Here ends the legend of Harry Potter. The hero who wanted to avenge his damsel in distress and died a miserable death. I had actually wanted to know how you had survived meeting me twice. I have decided now, though, that it does not matter. You, my dear friend, are a liability. One that I cannot allow to live. So, I give you the chance to die painlessly. That is more than I have offered many others before you, so, you should be glad that I am very considerate towards you. The world shall bow before me, Harry Potter, and it all starts today." Harry heard a loud thud and knew that the snake had arrive. Had Harry been capable of using his hands he would have hit himself over the head for turning his back on a dangerous enemy. Then his brain caught up to what was really going to happen. He would not be able to close his eyes due to the Petrificus Totalus. He would look into the snake's eyes and die instantly. Dying had never been part of his agenda today, though, as the inevitable loomed nearer, the only thought jumping around in his mind was that of Hermione and how she was going to be next, without him there to protect her. The last thought that Harry had before two bulbous big eyes loomed above him was 'I am sorry, dear girl, I failed you.' Right then he looked into the eyes above him and his entire world went black.

He felt himself coming to consciousness. Lifting himself from his position on the floor he couldn't help but gape at the surroundings. There was a vast expanse of white dense fog covering his vision for as far as he could see. He didn't feel as if he was dead though, which he knew was supposed to happen when he looked into the eyes of the basilisk. He couldn't feel his glasses on his eyes but he could see clearly. He looked down at himself to see if there was anything else wrong and he did find something very wrong. He was as naked as the day he was born. He felt exposed and wished for clothes. A set of shirt and jeans complete with underwear appeared in front of him. He quickly pulled them on while wondering how this was possible. He then took stock of the situation. Clearly, he was in a magical place which just fulfilled his wish. He still couldn't decide whether he was dead or not, though. That left him with only one option, explore. He started off and walked aimlessly forward. As he went a few paces he heard something whimpering, like a wounded animal. He cautiously headed towards the noise and couldn't help himself but be revolted by what he saw. The thing (for that is what it could be described as) looked like a highly deformed baby. It was bald, scaly, covered in blood and had eyes the color of rubies. It looked like a baby demon from the movies on the television.

As he watched the ugly thing with morbid fascination, he heard a distinctly female voice say "Harry?" As he whipped around he saw a couple in their early twenties stand right in front of him. The man was tall, thin, black haired and wore glasses just like the ones that Harry wore. The woman was also tall and slim. She had deep red hair and waist length red hair. He had seen this couple before, in an enchanted mirror and photographs.

"Mum, Dad?" Harry got out the words with difficulty since his throat had dried up the moment he had laid eyes upon them. "Is it really you?" A sob rose from his heart and tears started to fall but he did not dare take his eyes from them fearing that they would disappear if he did so. What followed was a round of hugs, kisses and tears. All three of them then sat down on a couch that had appeared out of nowhere. There wasn't a word between them for a very long time at least until they all composed themselves. After what felt like a second to them, Lily spoke first, "So, my baby boy is here and I don't know what to say. Actually I know what I have to say, I just don't know where to start."

"Mum, start wherever you want. I'm just fine listening to both of you."

"Fine then. Let me tell you what happened all those years ago. Well, there was a prophecy..."

Quite some time later, when Harry was told all he could be, he spoke, "So, it ultimately comes down to him or me. And, I didn't completely die right now because of the piece of soul within me. I can go back and finish off the fucker in the chamber and it would destroy another piece of his soul hidden in the diary. And the fucker also made more of those anchors of his and hid them in places, you don't know, since you aren't related to him. Of course I seem to have an affinity for being something known as a frickin battle mage." His mother's loud "LANGUAGE, HARRY!" and his father's laughter didn't make him feel even the slightest bit ashamed about his colorful vocabulary. "Moreover, it is not Sirius Black that betrayed you but Peter Pettigrew. And the cowardly rat shit is hiding in my dorm. And you guys are sending me back with your blessing to do whatever is necessary to protect Hermione, even resorting to dubious means. And the old, goat shagging, nincompoop has lost his sanity. Great! Just peachy!"

"We're sorry about this Harry, but we know you can accomplish all this and more, especially with the help of that young friend of yours. It is not fair to ask this much of you. But we don't have a choice. We certainly don't like it." cried Lily. Harry felt bad about what he had said and immediately encompassed her in a hug. He finally had a taste of what love felt like with only a few hours with his parents. He had also gotten hugged and kissed more number of times than all of his years put together.

"Harry, all that is good, but there is something really important that we still need to talk about." James interrupted. At Harry's questioning look, James elaborated, "Harry, what are you willing to do to protect Hermione?" "Anything, absolutely anything, you know that! You even gave me the permission to do so, didn't you?" Lily watched them both with a resigned look. She knew that James was the best person to explain this to Harry. After all he had been in the same position once and had realized his mistake, no matter how well intended it had been. "Yes, we did give you the permission. But, we need to know what 'anything' includes?"

"Would you kill for her?"

"I already have, even if it was unintentional."

"Would you die for her?"

"I already have, technically. What is with these questions, Dad? What are you trying to say?"

"And would you stop protecting her if she asked for it?"

"Um..."

"Harry, you need to understand that protecting someone means serious business. Sometimes, you have to protect the person from yourself. Imagine what would happen when she would have to have a private moment and you, in your overprotective mood, go and spoil it for her?"

"She would hate me. Forever. Even it is for her own good, she is much too stubborn to let me make a decision for her. Not that I would without asking for her permission first."

"You have to understand and know when to give her, her space. You have to understand that people are wild cards. They have rights and feelings and intelligent people like Hermione would never allow another to make a decision for them. However, if you force your decisions upon them, you would become something like the old meddler. So, what should you do?" James let Harry figure out by himself.

"I would have to let her go. Let her make her own mistakes and let her learn on her own. But, there is one thing I could do! I could be there for her when she would need me."

"Well done, son, well done indeed! You now understand what I was trying to tell you. Now, I believe it is time for you to return. Remember, use the gifts you have acquired right now well. They are yours for eternity. And, do give Hermione our love. Remember another thing, Harry , we are right here watching you. The people that love us never truly leave us. Live well and come back when it is your time." James hugged Harry one last time before handing him over to Lily.

Lily gave him a final hug and kiss on the cheek saying "Stay safe, baby. And give them hell!" Both Harry and James chuckled at Lily swearing.

As Harry faded back into the realm of the living, Lily said to James, "She is really good for him, isn't she? They are truly fated together." James simply hummed his agreement while wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into a kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

As Harry came back to the world of the living he discovered that the body bind spell had worn off and he could move his limbs again. He felt for his wand and glasses and found them right where he had them before going to the limbo: the glasses on his eyes and the wand in his right hand. He then thought back to the method his father had taught him to kill the basilisk. He could not look at the damn snake or it would kill him instantly and this time he would stay dead, since there would be no piece of the Dark Wanker's soul to take the ride this time. His father had taught him a way to transfigure his glasses into a material which would refract the magic from the basilisk's eyes breaking its effect, while still allowing him to see. It would act like a mirror except it would nullify the effect of the magic instead of reducing it like the mirror. So, instead of dying or being petrified he would be able to look at the basilisk safely. It was simple enough that it would only take a moment.

He cast the specific spell for the transfiguration and felt the magic take hold. He looked through his glasses and saw that Riddle had his back towards him , hissing at the snake. $Now, the world shall know of the greatness of Lord Voldemort and bow before his might.$ Harry almost retched at the obvious vanity Riddle seemed to be showing off. Harry tore off a button of his shirt and transfigured it into a needle, whispering the spell. He then enlarged the needle with the use of a murmured 'engorgio'. It looked like a pike except it was completely made out of stainless steel instead of wood with an iron spearhead. He then slowly levitated the 'needle' into the air with the pointed end towards the snake and cast a heavily powered banishing charm at it.

What happens when a pointed object, weighing about seven pounds, is used as a bullet accelerated to a speed of almost three hundred kilometers per hour? Well, the basilisk had another hole to go with however many it previously had already. The basilisk didn't even feel the piercing blow until it had keeled over and lay on the ground, dead. The 'pike' had cleanly pierced through the brain of the snake and killed it instantly. Riddle was in a state of shock. One moment he had been speaking with his pet and in the next it was dead. Riddle whirled around with a snarl on his face to see Harry standing there, twirling his wand in his fingers looking unconcernedly.

"How is this possible? How are you still alive, Potter? The basilisk's stare should have killed you instantly!" Riddle's face showed disbelief and bewilderment. "What kind of magic is this? I have researched all the ways of immortality, but never in all of my studies and research have I found something like this!" Fear was now making an appearance in Riddle's features. In Riddle's mind, he was the only one who was ever capable of immortality, the one thing he had sought for so long. The process had been long and not easy at all. In fact, it had been so difficult, he had once feared that he would never find out a way to achieve it. To see a mere twelve year old, with no exceptional magical talent, to possess something that he had coveted so persistently, had terrified him more than words could describe. He brandished Ginny's wand at Harry.

"Hello again. Now, what you had done was very rude you know? You hit me in the back and tried to kill me without giving me a chance to fight fairly! Didn't daddy ever teach you not to do so? That, it is not the mark of an honorable man to attack another when his back is turned? Oh, right! Sorry, about that! Forgot momentarily that Daddy didn't teach you anything!" Harry taunted.

"Enough, Potter." With that he cast the first spell. A dark yellow curse flew from his wand, towards Harry. Harry dodged immediately and cast an expelliarmus at Riddle and followed it with a body bind curse. However, when the two spells smashed into Riddle, they simply passed through the apparition. Riddle, unfazed, cast a dark purple fire like curse followed by a emerald green curse. Harry ducked and dived over the two spells and flung a couple of cutting curses at Riddle. Again, the two spells simply passed through Riddle without leaving a mark. Both Riddle and Harry were getting frustrated by now; Riddle because his spells weren't hitting Harry and Harry because his spells weren't having any effect. Riddle was really annoyed now and attacked Harry with renewed vigor. Blasting hexes, cutting curses and bludgeoning jinxes flew all around Harry. He twisted, twirled and jumped like a ballerina, all the while casting his own spells at Riddle, though his repertoire was quite limited than Riddle's. One of Riddle's cutting curses hit Harry's leg and opened up a gash. The cut slowed Harry and the following bludgeoning curse from Riddle's wand hit him in the chest tossing Harry into the chamber wall. As Harry wheezed out blood, he felt a couple of broken ribs and also thought he had internal bleeding along with a couple of damaged organs. Riddle swaggered over to him. Harry thought back to the source of Riddle's power and essence. Harry also remembered the conversation he had had with his father in the limbo. Harry threw out his wand hand, casting two summoning spells. A fang from the basilisk and the diary between Ginny's hands flew over to him. As Harry caught both items, Riddle's expression turned sour. "What are you doing?"

Harry smirked, coughing up blood said, "Why, Riddle, nervous are we?" and plunged the fang into the diary. With a scream, Riddle obliterated into a light show. "That's it? Hmm, that was disappointing. I was expecting more than just a few sparks." With that he coughed up some more blood. Suddenly Harry heard a moaning from Ginny. The girl sat up and looked around noticing Harry immediately.

"Harry! It was me, Harry! I opened the chamber! I didn't want to but Riddle made me do it. I am so sorry!" the young girl started to go into hysterics. Then, she noticed Harry's blood. "Harry! You're bleeding. What happened? Where's Riddle? Where's the basilisk?"

Harry coughed, "Don't worry, Ginny, look behind you. The basilisk's dead and Riddle's gone."

"How will I ever show myself to my parents? I had always wanted to come to Hogwarts ever since Bill first came here!" Ginny sobbed.

"Let's first get you out of here. Then we'll think about explaining things to your parents. I'm sure they'll understand." Harry spat some more blood.

Harry stood up shakily, Ginny immediately provided some support by pulling his arm over her shoulder balancing most of his weight. Harry accompanied her to the exit of the tunnel, picking up the diary and Ginny's wand on the way. They reached the snake skin and crossed it to reach the end. When they arrived at the pipe leading to Myrtle's bathroom, Harry had to sit for a moment since he couldn't breathe. He had experienced pain before but nothing Vernon had done to him had been so bad. Vernon had at worst slapped him around or thrown a few punches. He had never escalated his abuse to some of the more horrifying acts, because he didn't want the neighbors asking too many questions or worse the police and the child care services getting involved. He took a deep, rattling breath and did as his mother had instructed him on how to exit the chamber.

-Flashback-

"So, I can only destroy the damned diary with basilisk venom or something equally destructive. But, that is all well and good, but how do I get out of the chamber of secrets. I don't have a broom or something, do I?" Harry said.

"Harry, Salazar had built a way to exit the chamber. You just have to say 'stairs' in parseltongue to convert the slide into a staircase and you can climb it or say 'climb' to turn it into an escalator." said his Mum.

"What is an 'escapabalator'?" James questioned.

"Don't mind about it, love. Harry has understood. Right, baby?" Lily appeased James.

"Yeah, it's clear."

-End Flashback-

After the moving stairs deposited them both on the bathroom floor, Ginny, keeping in mind Harry's current condition, lead him straight to the hospital wing. Knocking loudly on the doors, she proceeded inside to see Madam Pomfrey preparing to administer the Mandrake restorative drought to the petrified victims. As soon as, Harry saw Pomfrey near Hermione, all of his pain was forgotten. He quickly staggered alone to Hermione's bed side. Ginny watched as Harry held Hermione's hand. The look and gasp by Madam Pomfrey was ignored by all, until she bustled over to Harry and started fussing over him.

"What happened to you, Mr. Potter?" She began casting diagnostics and reading the results that only she could understand. "Three broken ribs, a damaged liver, a lung that has been bruised at two places and a slash on the leg that has lost a lot of blood. You better start talking, Mr. Potter!"

"I think you should first take a look at Ginny, she's been through quite the ordeal. I'll be fine, though the blood loss would explain why I am feeling so weak and why my head's reeling. But, before you go, could you please tell me how Hermione is?"

Madam Pomfrey's mouth dropped open as she looked around and noticed the red-haired girl. She then looked confused as to who to attend to first. Harry seemed the most injured among them both while Ginny Weasley had been dragged into the chamber of secrets a few hours ago. She could not even imagine what horrors the young girl could have been subjected to in the chamber. How Harry had managed to bring the girl back alive was a mystery to her. She had been sure, like the rest of the staff, that the girl was dead. She also knew for a fact that Minerva, along with the Headmaster, was speaking to the girl's distraught parents as of right then.

Making up her mind, she said, "Mr. Potter, your injuries concern me the most right now, but it seems that you are quite comfortable where you are. If you'll stay put, I will contact Minerva and Professor Dumbledore so that they can come here with Ms. Weasley's parents. I believe they were speaking about her. I'm sure they'll be glad to know that their daughter is safe." Saying that she ushered Ginny into an adjacent bed and turned to head to her fireplace in her office. Suddenly she halted and turned to Harry and said, "Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger will be joining us shortly after administering the Mandrake restorative drought to them all. Don't worry, Mr. Potter, you'll have your friend back in a few hours."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Turning to Hermione, he started whispering so none other could hear him, "Hey, there, Angel. I did it, you know. I finished off the sorry arse, son of a bitch that put you in that bed." Looking into her wide eyes and caressing her hand with his thumb, "I thought for a moment there that I was a goner. Actually, it all went to hell in a hand basket. But, you know, you kinda pulled me back. That's why I called you, Angel. You've saved my arse more times than I can count. And for that alone I will never let anyone else hurt you, ever again." Had Harry realized that Hermione could hear him even when she was petrified he would have been mortified with what he said.

Poppy Pomfrey had seen many couples in her lifetime as a Hogwarts student, first and as the Hogwarts healer, second. However, when she had glanced at Harry whispering to his friend, she knew instinctively that these two were fated together. The quiet look of caring and concern in the lad's eyes almost brought tears to her own eyes. She was willing to bet all her money that these two would end up together sooner rather than later. While, she knew that Mr. Potter was a bit inexperienced in the matters of the heart, she also trusted Ms. Granger to take the lead in their relationship. Damn, that girl was sharp. Smiling to herself, Pomfrey headed to her fireplace to make the floo call.

After some time Harry felt the doors to the hospital wing burst open to let Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly Weasley. Molly headed straight to Ginny, hugged, cried and started fussing over her, while Arthur and Minerva looked on with concern. Pomfrey had arrived by now as well and started healing Harry before she went to take care of the redhead. Dumbledore was smiling with the damn twinkle in his eyes as he watched Harry still holding on to Hermione's hand. However on the inside, Dumbledore was quite anxious to know what had happened in the chamber and how Ginny had survived. He posed his questions to the one person capable of answering currently, Harry. "If you would be kind enough to explain what happened, Harry."

"Hello, Professors, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. As for what happened, the short version is I found out where the chamber was, with the help of Hermione and Ron, and retrieved Ginny from there." Harry said casually, drinking a smoking pale yellow potion for internal organ bruising, or so the healer told him.

At the incredulous on the faces of all the adults in the room, Dumbledore said, "Would you, please, elaborate, my boy?"

The explanation that followed left all of them in a state of shock. Though Harry had excluded his death, rebirth and gifts given by his parents, he had told enough to the adults. "I see, so it was this diary that was possessing Ms. Weasley here and making her attack the muggleborns? Ingenious piece of magic I see. Yes, Tom Riddle was a brilliant student; intelligent, determined and resourceful. Not many people would relate him to the Dark Lord Voldemort. No wonder, he created something of this sort just to finish his wish." said Dumbledore peering into the diary. The blue eyes of the headmaster had lost their twinkle as the story had progressed, but regained it at his next words.

"You, Mr. Potter, lead your friend Mr. Weasley into the forbidden forest, disobeyed the curfew set by your teachers, jumped straight into a dangerous situation and proved yourself to be the most troublesome student, we have ever seen in the history of Hogwarts. And for that I award Gryffindor house two hundred points, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, each. Now, there is one last thing I would like to ask of you to explain. Do you know what happened to Professor Gilderoy Lockhart? You seem to know a lot about what goes on around the castle, so I wanted to find out if you would be aware of the situation with our defense professor." Twinkling stopped again as the headmaster inquired about the dead professor.

"I do not know anything about what happened to Professor Lockhart. Why? Is something wrong? What happened to Professor Lockhart?" Harry said with fake worry.

The headmaster simply raised an eyebrow and said, "Gilderoy Lockhart is dead. He was found by Professor Sanpe and Mr. Filch, at the bottom of the grand staircase about an hour ago. We initially believed it was the work of the Heir of Slytherin. Though it seems we were mistaken, as he clearly was occupied with you. We shall find out soon enough, since the aurors are searching for clues and the director of magical law enforcement will be here shortly." Dumbledore had the distinct feeling that Harry did know what had happened to Gilderoy. While no tears would be shed for the man, death was not something he deserved. He had tried to question the portraits for anything and had found that Gilderoy had been hit in the back and the assailant had been invisible. Harry was the only one with the means to be invisible completely in the castle at the moment and he had been the only person, outside of the staff, to roam the halls on that specific night.

However that was not to say someone else could not do the same to implicate the lad. If that were so, it had to be someone with inside knowledge of Harry's behavior and actions. It was highly unlikely so the old headmaster decided to sneak a peek at Harry's thoughts to detect whether the lad was lying or telling the truth. He ran a cursory scan and found... nothing. Absolutely nothing. There wasn't a trace of a stray emotion or thought from the lad. Even his facial expression was that of worry and sadness which could be construed as normal reactions over the death of a professor.

Dumbledore was shocked. This meant Harry had somehow managed to learn occlumency in the short span of a few months since he had last seen him in his office. And, he was better than even Severus. Amazement over his capabilities was pouring off from the headmaster. "It seems this meeting is at an end. I will be on my way and contact the proper authorities on getting Hagrid released from Azkaban. The director of DMLE might like to have a few words with you later, Harry, if that is okay with you. I'll of course be there to oversee the interview. Don't worry you are not in any trouble, it will primarily be a fact gathering interview. Not an interrogation. Good night all. Get some rest, Harry. I'm sure your friends shall wake you up tomorrow." Saying that he left the hospital in a swirl of his robes.

Minerva McGonagall had been listening to Harry's anecdote and was quite impressed with the way he had handled the entire situation. Especially the part where he had used a creative method to deal with the basilisk and Riddle; using spells above his coursework. The 'engorgio' should be taught in third year charms and the summoning charm was fourth year material. "Mr. Potter, well done. You certainly showed that you have inherited your mother and father's talent, to some extent at least. If you wouldn't mind, please cast a switching spell and the summoning spell. This is not a test of the authenticity of your tale, rather a test to judge your limits."

Harry cast the switching spell, a fourth year spell, on her hat, replacing it with Madam Pomfrey's nurse cap and then summoned both of them, holding them out to their respective owners. He did it with the proper wand movement and incantations. Minerva was spellbound by the fact that Harry truly was capable of such feats of magic. "Why haven't you shown this level of proficiency in my class, Mr. Potter? However, now that I have seen what you are capable of I will be holding you to a different level than your classmates from now on. Do not disappoint me." She showed a rare smile and continued, "I have never been more prouder of a lion than I am today, Mr. Potter. Your parents would have been proud too."

Harry already knew that, since he had met them. He said, "Thank you, Professor. Of course I will perform to the best of my ability in class from now on. There is one thing I would like to ask of you though. Can I change my electives from Divination to Ancient Runes and Arithmancy for the upcoming year. I think they would be more beneficial for me than trying to predict the future."

"I see no problem in doing so, Mr. Potter. I should say Ms. Granger seems to be a good influence on you Mr. Potter." Minerva couldn't help but smile because she could almost smell his anticipation and desire to be close to the girl and left. She also wanted to have good stiff drink in her office. Perhaps she could get a betting pool started to see when the two would get together. That should be fun.

"You don't know even half of it." murmured Harry looking at Hermione.

Molly Weasley saw Harry still holding Hermione's hand. She took a good look at the girl that she had never met before. Bushy brown hair, slightly large front teeth, brown eyes and pale skin. Her face was quite pretty as well. She would grow to be a beautiful woman. When Molly had first laid eyes on Harry she had wanted him to become her son by marrying Ginny just so she could care for him forever. But as she saw him with the clever girl on the bed she knew that Ginny had no chance with him. His heart was taken out of his ribs and the girl was holding it in her hands. Right then Molly Weasley decided to do everything in her power to bring them together, though she suspected she wouldn't need to do much. She just needed to make Ginny realize that before her crush could develop into something more.

"Harry, dear," she began. The boy's face jerked to look at her. She continued, "Thank you. Thank you, for bringing my little girl back to me. I want to do and say more but I don't know how or what to do. Ginny is really special for everyone in the family." Saying that she broke down into tears. Arthur's hand went around her shoulder and he spoke for the first time since they had all entered into the hospital wing, "I can't say anything more that what she said, but please know this, our family owes you a debt that cannot be repaid. Anything you want shall be given if it is in our power to do so."

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I did what I could and nothing more. I do not consider this a favor or loan of any sort so you do not owe me anything. I might not know Ginny too well, but you all did give an orphan like me some place to stay over the summer and for that I am eternally grateful to you. Ron is a good friend and your family means a lot to me as well." Everyone noticed that Harry referred to Ron as a good friend rather than his best friend. This just cemented everyone's belief that Harry considered a brunette to be his 'best friend'. "I would like to stay with your family again, sometime in the future, if you'll have me of course."

Molly jumped up and hugged the unassuming lad tightly, crying, "You'll always be welcome at the Burrow, dear." with Arthur nodding his assent.

Ginny spoke up too, "Thank you, Harry." and promptly hid beneath her bed covers.

"I think that should be all for today. Arthur, Molly, you can stay if you want but I'll be giving both of them dreamless sleep potion enough for eight hours or so. Then I'll be giving the restorative drought to the others. You'll have to stay quiet though." Madam Pomfrey said handing one vial of the purple potion to both Ginny and Harry, each. Ginny took hers immediately but Harry refused to take his.

"I would rather stay awake when Hermione recovers." he stated quite adamantly.

"Not happening, Mr. Potter. I am sure she would do the same for you as well but right now you look dead on your feet. You need a good night's rest before you can function properly. I suppose Ms. Granger would just have to wait for you to be conscious again. Drink up, Mr. Potter." said the matron, in a tone that allowed no arguments, shoving the vial into his hands.

Harry got up on a bed beside Hermione's and drank the potion in one gulp. "Good night, Angel. Sorry but you know Madam Pomfrey. She didn't allow me though I didn't want to." Saying that he fell right asleep as the potion kicked in.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

A/N:- Thank you all for reading and reviewing. It has been a great pleasure reading all the positive reviews and encouragement from my dear readers. Your feedback is what gives me the inspiration and boost necessary to proceed with the story.

A few of my reviewers have given me some really important pointers on how to make my fanfic a bit better. I have taken a few suggestions and I believe it will make a difference in my writing style. Thank you for providing me with the necessary indications to all those who have done so. As I said at the beginning of the story, I gladly welcome any criticism that I can use to improve. I stand by what I said and hope you all like where this story is going.

Now, please read further coz the story ain't finished yet. Introduction to the heroine, in this chapter, dear chaps. Read on, coz this is the beginning of a grand romance. I apologize in advance since this would be another one of those chapters where the person's mindset is explained by a detailed description without much dialogue. Please bear with me friends.

Hermione Granger sat in the hospital bed, looking over to where the person on her mind was currently asleep. Jet black hair, green eyes (now covered by his eyelids), slender frame and slightly shorter than average height. At first look, Harry Potter was not a person that would seem impressive, but if one could look underneath the vulnerable facade, they would see a formidable boy who would back down from nothing. Hermione still remembered her first meeting with him, as if it had happened only yesterday.

She had been visiting compartment to compartment to find the elusive toad of the shy boy she had been sharing a compartment with, but without much success. Most of the compartments had senior students who didn't really bother themselves with the simplistic (in their perspective) woes of a couple of first years, who were yet to be sorted. This had annoyed the bushy haired girl a bit, since, she had been expecting a bit of help from her seniors. Even the prefects, people of authority, were at best, ignoring them and at worst, laughing and slamming their doors shut in their faces. This behavior was not new to her. She had experienced far worse than that in her primary school, because of her intelligence and looks. However, she had hoped, with all her might, that these wizards and witches would be different than her old schoolmates. Why she had hoped for that was a mystery to her, since no matter what, magic couldn't change the basic personality of people. Hermione Granger was irritated with herself for not knowing better. That had caused her to simply slide open the door without knocking first. Her mother would have been appalled at her manners, or lack thereof, but she had not been in a good mood.

That was when she first saw him. He was sitting by the window, with a load of candy strewed around the compartment, holding what looked like a Bertie Bott's every flavor bean. He had jet, black hair, emerald, green eyes and round glasses covering up those beautiful eyes, though he looked to be underfed and unhealthily malnourished. The other kid in the compartment had red hair and appeared to be ready to cast a spell. The following conversation was a short one where she had acted her own bossy and intimidating self. Looking back on her behavior now, she could honestly say to herself that it had not been her best conduct, but she knew her previous mood had been affecting her. The meeting had soured relations between her and the two boys. That had not ended their encounters with each other, though.

In the next few months she had tried to stop those two from causing any more trouble, though she didn't know why she did so. She couldn't understand what it was about those two, that had drawn her so much. She had never tried to stop anyone else from breaking the rules before, since it would only increase her torment. But she had persevered in trying to block those two from getting into trouble. However, it had all come to a head on Halloween. She had tried to help Ron Weasley in his spell casting in charms and had inadvertently showed him up. Then, while leaving the class, she had overheard Ron saying horrible things to his friend about her. She had been called everything from a bookworm to a teacher's pet by her old classmates. She had been made fun of, for her teeth and hair, by every youngster in the neighborhood. Her intelligence and obedience for authority figures had elicited negative responses from her cousins and distant relatives as well. But the straw that had broken the camel's back had been when Ron said that she didn't have any friends. No matter how hard she had tried she could not deny the fact that she was friendless. That had been her breaking point, she had no longer wanted to stay in the school. She had ran, knocking into someone on the way, to the only place where she knew she could find some solace and solitude. She hadn't known how long she had been in that bathroom, but when her stomach growled she had realized that she needed sustenance.

Exiting the stall where she had spent all of her afternoon crying, she suddenly smelt a disgusting odor. A few steps forward and she saw a couple of large bare feet. Hermione looked up to see a creature that would give most people nightmares. She heard screaming, never realizing that it had been her that was screaming. What happened next had been a blur to her. Her trying to run in the other direction, two boys rushing into the room, the troll smashing into anything and everything it's pea sized brain could determine, were all events that she had watched on helplessly. She had never wanted to die and dying by the hands, or rather, club, of a troll would have been a shame. The thing that had changed everything for her, again, had been the scrawny black haired boy jumping onto the back of a twelve foot mountain troll. She had never seen anyone doing something so brave and so stupid for her. That had changed her way of seeing Harry. That night had been the first time she had lied to a teacher, not because she had wanted to get out of trouble, like most people would expect, but because she hadn't wanted her savior to be in trouble. After that something happened that would make the entire experience an unforgettable one; Harry and Ron became her first true friends.

Ever since then she would have those two accompanying her anywhere she went. Harry, though, had started to become her best friend. Ron was a good friend, but seemed to fight with her on inconsequential matters, obstinately refusing to listen to logical arguments. Hermione valued logic and reasoning infinitely more. Ron was also a stubborn, lazy, uncouth boy, most of the time. His table manners left a lot to be desired. While his academic prowess was more than average, his diligence was nonexistent. He had a brain, that could not be denied, but he seemed determined not to use it on his studies. He did use his entire mental faculties on worthless (in the long run) pursuits, such as Quidditch, chess and eating. Hermione's and Ron's disagreements usually centered around him asking to copy her homework.

Harry on the other hand was quite different than Ron. He would listen to every argument, she would pose, with an open mind. He also had behavioral etiquette that far exceeded that of Ron's. He wasn't as lazy as Ron, and needed only a bit of persuasion,... okay a lot of persuasion, to do his homework. While his assignments were not perfect, his mind was sharp as well. He could grasp a concept rather quickly, if he wanted to. However that was the main problem, he rarely wanted to do so.

However, she couldn't contradict the fact that Harry was a terrific flyer. The stunts he did in his quidditch matches were nothing short of spectacular and suicidal. Professional quidditch matches were definitely in his future with a bit of practice. He surely had the prerequisite skill for the game. Although, it would surely give her a heart stroke watching him play, she would never begrudge him, his passion for flying. She had seen the way he felt when he was in the air: as if nothing would ever bother him, as if he was... she searched for the right word... free. Yes, free. Freedom from his problems, freedom from his relatives, freedom from everything. His entire demeanor would scream joy and happiness when he was in the air. A drastic shift from the normally brooding and slightly sarcastic friend she knew on the ground. She loved seeing him smile often and knew that flying was the only catharsis he could find.

Harry was also the most accident prone boy she had ever met. Anything he did could potentially escalate or devolve into a dangerous situation in a matter of moments. His first quidditch match had proved that to her. She had almost felt her heart burst into smithereens with sheer worry over his fate. The fear that something would happen to the boy, that had begun to matter the most to her in as short a period as a few months, had spurred her into taking desperate measures; setting fire to Snape's robes. The rest of the year had passed away in the same fashion; Harry needing help and Hermione providing it. Then the sorcerer's stone had to be rescued from the defense against the dark arts professor.

When Harry had to go alone, to fight Voldemort she had quashed her embarrassment and had hugged him. Unknown to Harry, it had been her first hug to someone that was not a family member. It had changed her perspective of Harry. She had felt awkward doing so, but deep in her heart it had felt good. As if there would be no place else she would rather be. It had felt right. However the propriety of the situation had not reduced the fear of losing him. When Harry had been rescued by Dumbledore, she had breathed a sigh of relief. She had rushed into the hospital wing three days later to see him smiling at her and felt as if everything would be all right if he would just keep smiling like that. Right then, she had realized that she liked her best friend as something more than just a friend. It had been hard to see him off at the train station at the end of the year.

During the summer, when she didn't have any correspondence with him, she had been really disappointed. She had expected him to send at least one letter a week. Not only hadn't he written any letters of his own, he hadn't replied to any of hers either. Her contact with Ron had informed her that she was not the only one, not to have any communication with Harry. That had not assured her in the slightest. While she didn't know the extent of his relatives' abuse, she had deduced enough from Harry's words, or lack thereof, to not portray a lovely image of his relatives. It had started to raise her anxiety to greater levels. Who knew what he could have been facing when she had been on vacation with her parents. She had sent a letter immediately, with the near death owl of Ron's, to enquire about Harry's wellbeing.

As soon as she had laid eyes on Harry in Diagon Alley, she had enveloped him in a hug and had not been intending to let go, had her parents and the rest of the Weasleys, not been present. The train ride had been another nerve wracking experience. Harry had not been on the train; she knew it very well, since she had scoured the train, front to back, relentlessly trying to find the object of her affections. She had wanted to stay as close to him as possible to make sure he was all right. Reaching the school and not finding Harry had been a dreadful moment for her. When she had laid her eyes on Harry in front of the common room she had yelled at him. It had only been an indication of the pace at which their second year at Hogwarts was going to run at.

As the whole school turned on Harry, believing him to be the heir of Slytherin, she had stood steadfastly with him. She wanted to prove to Harry that he needed none other than her. That she would always be there for him no matter the repercussions. She had not doubted him for a second when he had said that he heard disembodied voices. She had simply known he was telling the truth. She knew that Harry was not someone who told or did something to gather attention. She believed that Harry was not an evil wizard because he spoke parseltongue. Any other normal person would have abandoned him as soon as the truth came out, but not her. She would never do that to him. She cared for him too much to do something so stupid as deserting him.

The last thought that had occurred to her in the moment when she met the basilisk had been of Harry. She had realized by then, that he would not be able to find out what was attacking muggleborns without the piece of parchment she currently held in her fist. He needed her just as much as she needed him. When she had been laid on the hospital wing bed, she could hear everything going on around her, even though she had been petrified. It had been the best and worst moment of her life, to listen as Harry sat beside her bed and all but declared his love for her.

She understood where he was coming from, since she used to feel the same way, every time he was hurt, as well. She would blame herself and then try to rectify the situation, however she could. However, listening to Harry on that day had revealed a lot to her. Harry cared deeply for her, so much, that he would risk his own life to avenge her. When he had blamed himself for her condition, she had wanted to rise from the bed, slap him, then hug him and then scream at him for believing that he could ever hurt her. He also was growing very exasperated with the members of the faculty. It seemed his trust in them was fading quickly. Oh, how she had wished to yell, 'Language, Harry', when he had abused the teachers.

Instead, she could only smile at all the emotion that overflowed the confines of his heart, knowing that all of it was for someone like her; a nobody, someone who had believed herself, unworthy of his attention. She had read between the lines and started to hope that he would return her feelings, eventually, at least. He appeared to be quite unaware of his own feelings for her, believing them to be purely platonic. However, she knew better and wanted to be there for him when he would realize. She desired to become the one for him; the one he would laugh with, rage with, scream with and cry with. A perfect partner.

She also understood that in a few years he would become an attraction to every girl inside and outside the school. But she didn't intend to let anyone else take him away from her. No, not at all! Not, if she could help it. He was hers, just like she was his. No one else could interfere. She would not allow it.

Right then a deep groan, from beside her, roused her from her deep contemplation. She whirled around to see her Harry sitting up in his bed and looking around. His eyes had never looked so beautiful to her, as they had in that moment, as they lay on her. A smile rose from both of their lips and kept on widening. She didn't even remember jumping out of her bed and rushing over to him, engulfing him in a tight hug. A moan of pain brought her to her senses and she leaped back.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Harry." she said, realizing that he was in pain from the broken ribs. Madam Pomfrey had informed her of his condition as soon as she had woken up. "I'll call the nurse," saying that she had just turned when his hand grasped her arm, turned her around making her eye level with him. She couldn't help but dive into the depths of his emerald green pools, his face, so close to her, she could feel his breath on her lips. Her heart rate quickened and a blush rose up her cheeks, though, she didn't dare take away her eyes from his. His lips looked so inviting that she simply desired to kiss him.

A loud hoot from behind her broke the entire moment abruptly. She jerked behind from his embrace immediately, turning around to see Hedwig sitting on the windowsill, observing them both imperiously.

"Hedwig! How are you, girl?" said Harry smiling up at the beautiful snowy owl, trying to hide his own blush. The owl flew over to him and landed on his shoulder. She then rubbed her head against his in an obvious show of affection, while her owner tickled her beak with a finger.

Hermione watched the entire scene with a content smile. The evident love between Harry and Hedwig made her realize the bond between them both. She made to stand up and go fetch Madam Pomfrey when she noted that her hand was still held in his. She again turned to see both human and animal looking at her.

"Harry, I have to go. You need Madam Pomfrey's assistance."

"Hermione, I'm fine. Just sit. We have a lot to talk about," saying that Harry forced her to sit down on his bed.

"Now why doesn't that reassure me in the slightest?" she quipped. She listened as Harry described the events of last night. When she heard the part where he had died, she started crying and hugged him, never to let go. Harry spent an undetermined amount of time consoling the despondent girl. Finally, when she was completely reassured, Harry continued with the rest of the story. He told her about Gilderoy Lockhart's unfortunate death by his hands. When he told her about his parents and removal of the piece of soul, Hermione had wanted to start crying again, but, she somehow controlled herself.

"Hermione, I have gotten a few gifts, from the removal of the horcrux. Those are legilimency, occlumency and parseltongue. Those three were abilities of Tom Riddle, a.k.a Voldemort. You see when Riddle managed to put his piece of soul into my body, I adopted some of his abilities. My parents told me that, while I could have retained more than just these three gifts, such as, memories and skills, it would have changed my personality to something that would resemble Tom Riddle. I already have gained some of his traits, like, I don't have many moral constraints that other people have. I can do activities of questionable morality, without much distress to myself. You see, a drawback of having a personality match of a battle mage is that, during a battle I would not hesitate to take a life, but after the battle, the grief and guilt would hit me with twice the original impact. Makes me the perfect soldier during a conflict, though renders me totally helpless later on. That drawback is now negated due to the personality imprint left by Voldemort's residue. I will not feel anything, now, while in a fight or after it. It changed me, Hermione."

His countenance became depressed as he continued, "This might make you not want to be my friend anymore, Hermione. I can understand. To be the friend of a cold-blooded killer is not something, someone would wish for. I will not blame you for leaving me, Hermione. Hell, had I been a bit different myself I would not have wanted you to associate with someone like me!"

He proceeded in the same vein, "I will not stop you from leaving, Hermione, but know this, I will always be there when you will need me. And I still can feel horrible if something were to happen to you! My lack of emotions only extend to my enemies, not to ones that are important to me, and especially not you."

Hermione started to think about these revelations. She honestly couldn't believe that Harry would be as cold hearted as he described. Despite that she had never believed him to lie or exaggerate about anything. On the contrary he had a tendency to understate things. 'If that was the case,' Hermione began to seriously think about that, 'can I be with him? Can I be a friend to a remorseless killer? Can I really support his actions knowing that he does not truly care for the people he might hurt?'

She knew her answer before she spoke, "Harry, this is the last time I will even allow you to ask such stupid questions! I am not leaving you no matter what. Do you understand? I will be your friend for however long you might want me to be. The only way you are ever going to be rid of me is if I die! Clear?" By the time she had finished his collar was in her hands, her eyes were again staring into his and her voice had dropped to a whisper.

"I do not care if you do some dubious things. While, I may not always like them, I will never stop you from doing them, unless you go too far. And, I know that Harry Potter will never go so far. You will never turn evil, Harry! I know it! And whoever said Harry Potter doesn't have a conscience is a fool! I know that you still have morals, strong ones at that. Just answer a single question, Harry? Would you ever knowingly harm an innocent just to prove a point?"

"Never!" Harry exclaimed outraged.

"See, Harry? You would do anything to protect me but you would never hurt an innocent that doesn't deserve it. As for what happened with Lockhart, it was an accident! You are not to blame for it. He was trying to escape his responsibility. He did not deserve death, sure, but I for one will not shed any tears over him." Hermione said with a quiet finality in her tone.

"But, I thought you fancied him, what with all the hearts and valentine cards." Harry said with a teasing smile. It had been a relief to him, listening to Hermione saying that she would always be with him. Harry might have accomplished something that no wizard had ever achieved, unassisted flight, hearing assurance from the one person whose opinion he really cared about.

Hermione blushed again and mumbled something incoherently.

"What was that, Angel? I didn't understand," teased Harry.

Hermione decided to tip the scales in her favor with a witty comment, "Well, I seem to have a new knight in shining armor who kills basilisks in his free time." She smiled coquettishly. "Oh, my dear knight! Where hath ye been? Ye hath slain the monster of centuries old, bathing in its foul blood!" Hermione playacted while trying to make the gaga eyes at Harry. She looked so ridiculous doing it that Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"My fair maiden, I am but a mere soldier that hath come upon thy fair beauty... ugh... It is hard for me, Angel, I have never acted in a play before."

"Don't worry about it, Harry, though I might need a nickname for you as well. Since you have 'Angel' for me I thought I should have one for you as well. What do you think?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, I suppose it's only fair. But what are you going to call me?" Harry asked.

"Since, we already established the fact that you are a knight and you do not seem to have a suit of silver, I think it would be fitting to call you, My Dark Knight. Yes, fits you perfectly,... My Dark Knight."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

A/N:- Hello again, dear readers. Let me first start off with the statements of heartfelt gratitude for the time you all have spent, reading and reviewing my story. I would like to confess that, when I had first started this story, I hadn't expected such great response from my readers. Thank you all.

To my reviewers, thank you for your criticism and suggestions. They are highly appreciated and I hope you would provide me with more counsel more often.

A little bit about this story; Most of you might think this is just a romantic story, but as the title suggests it is going to have mature themes as well. So, if you are not allowed to or like to read such stories, my advice is to, please, leave before you might get offended or horrified. This is by no means a dismissal, just a fair bit of warning. Though this chapter will not contain much, the future chapters will.

Now, I know that this is something that should have been posted since first chapter, but, it seems to have slipped my mind. Hope you can forgive me for the delay.

A little spoiler alert - One of my reviewers asked me whether Harry's wand had bonded with the horcrux or Harry's innate personality. Well, dear readers, I was thinking of a new wand, and it is going to arrive in the next few chapters. Thought you guys might just like a little teaser. Thanks to emiya-excalibur for asking me this question.

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It was at dawn, when Amelia Bones, youngest and only female Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the entire history of Magical Britain, walked into the Entrance Hall of the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, accompanied by two aurors, to investigate the death of a Defense Against the Dark arts professor for the year nineteen hundred and ninety two to ninety three. She was also intending to conduct an in-depth investigation into the entire debacle, known as, the chamber of secrets. After last Halloween, her niece, Susan's letters had begun to get really disturbing in their contents. She had been really upset to find that such things were happening where her niece was residing.

When she had found out that Cornelius had arrested Hagrid simply because he had been accused the first time that had happened, she had been furious. She had tried to bring Hagrid, out on the grounds, that there was no proof of guilt. However, that had failed, since Cornelius had been adamant in trying to look good rather than see justice served. Cornelius, it appeared, bypassed all of the proper protocol by having the support of Lucius Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy was on the Hogwarts board of governors. He had given Cornelius all the required paperwork.

Then, it had been found out that a girl had been taken into the Chamber. She had wanted to investigate immediately, but the red carpet had been an agonizing pain. Hogwarts was an independent institution and as such, was out of the Ministry's jurisdiction. She had to have proper paperwork from all of the board of governors and the Headmaster to conduct a proper search. It had been a nightmare, since Lucius Malfoy had been blocking her efforts and with the absence of Dumbledore from the school she had to take longer to get in touch with Minerva, the acting Headmistress.

And by the time she had accomplished all that, she found out that a teacher had been murdered by a currently, unidentified assailant. She then had to go through all of the proper channels again to investigate both events. 'Bloody bureaucracy,' she thought to herself. The aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Bernard Savage quietly followed their fuming superior.

She arrived at the bottom of the grand staircase where there were a bunch of professors waiting in a circle. Headmaster Dumbledore, or the antique geezer, she so fondly referred to him as, stepped up to her from the circle.

"Good morning, Amelia, please, you are perfectly punctual, as usual, of course." Dumbledore said. "Ah, Kingsley and Bernard, as well, lovely to see you both."

Dumbledore's tone really irritated her. How anyone could act so chipper with a dead body in the background was a mystery to her. However, Dumbledore seemed to manage it just fine.

"What's so good about this morning, Albus? The entire school has been turned into a bloody warzone with casualties on one side for the past eight months and you vehemently denied me the permission to investigate, stating that it was an inside matter. And look where it led you today. A student is missing, believed to be dead and an undeniably dead professor." Amelia fumed.

"Ah, that is where, you, my dear, are highly misinformed, I'm afraid. You see, Ms. Weasley was retrieved in the early hours of this morning by Mr. Harry Potter from the Chamber of Secrets. While, it is unfortunate and highly distressing to find out the fate of Gilderoy, it heartens me to know that an innocent life has been saved." Dumbledore's tone and expression meandered through a range of emotions as he said his little speech.

"Excuse me, but did you just say Harry Potter rescued the victim from the Chamber of Secrets?" Amelia questioned skeptically.

"Yes, Amelia, that is exactly what I said. Harry Potter, with the help of his friends, discovered the hidden entrance to the chamber and had ventured into it alone. He then proceeded to slay Slytherin's monster and brought back Ms. Weasley. Quite an accomplishment, wouldn't you say, Amelia? I must say young Harry does justice to his house and its history." Dumbledore's beard twitched as he clearly tried to contain his pride at his student's achievements.

"And does Mr. Potter know exactly who and what was attacking the students?" Amelia intoned.

"Yes, though, I believe it would be best if Harry himself narrated that anecdote to you. It was quite an adventure, I must say. And as for the perpetrator of the crime, I'm afraid he is indisposed for you to apprehend." Dumbledore said while peering over his half-moon glasses.

"I shall be the one to judge. Meanwhile, I would like to know what happened with Mr. Lockhart." With that Amelia proceeded to take the statements of everyone present. In her inquiry she found out that Severus Snape and Argus Filch had been the first ones to see the body. Looking at the state of the body she could already say that it had been dropped from a great height. Questioning Albus had revealed what the portraits knew. The assailant was clearly very smart. He had used two very simple spells to devastating effect. A disarmer and body-bind. Both of them were very harmless spells, but in the right or wrong set of circumstances, depending on one's point of view, they were evidently a lethal combo. There also appeared to be two trunks on the site, where he had been attacked, containing the possessions of the victim. He seemed to have been trying to escape when he had been murdered.

Gilderoy Lockhart's body was a total mess. It had impacted the ground at high speeds, obviously. His limbs were bent at impossible and perturbing angles. Every bone in his body had been shattered and crushed to pieces. His organs were also damaged beyond repair. Shacklebolt and Savage, ran diagnostics and revelation spells around the entire crime scene to determine any more clues as to the identity of the perpetrator. She watched as her two senior aurors took statements from the teachers. They then prepared to move the body to their departmental morgue for an extensive autopsy.

After everything was done, Amelia said, "Now, would you please take me to Mr. Potter." Though she stated it as a request, her tone implied it was an order.

"Indeed, if you and your companions shall accompany me. Mr. Potter is currently in the hospital wing. He was injured during the altercation with the monster. However, I believe he must have woken up by now." Dumbledore stated solemnly and led them upstairs.

A short while later, Dumbledore, Amelia and her two aurors entered in to the hospital wing. Amelia looked around to see most of the hospital beds were empty. It seemed that the students that had been petrified were healed completely and they had all gone back to their dormitories to share the news with their friends. She noticed that only three people were present in there. Madam Pomfrey, a black haired boy and a brown haired girl. The healer was casting diagnostic spells on the boy, who was lying on a bed with the girl sitting on his bedside.

As the entourage approached them, the three looked up at them. She noticed that the boy looked exactly like his father, except for his eyes. They were Lily Evans' eyes. He was a bit on the short side, though. 'I am not here for a social call,' she reminded herself.

"Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the two gentlemen, you see behind me, are Senior Aurors, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Bernard Savage. Aurors are like muggle policemen, except they are better trained than their mundane counterparts. I've come here to question you about the events of the Chamber of Secrets. If you can explain to me how it was that you had been capable of achieving what you did, I should be extremely grateful." Amelia said. Poppy Pomfrey picked up several empty potion vials and went back to her office.

Amelia watched as the two kids glanced at each other for a moment before the boy told them the same story that he had told Dumbledore.

After his anecdote was finished, she felt like she was not being told a few very crucial things. She knew that the boy was not as innocent as he portrayed. While she didn't think he was specifically lying, she didn't believe she was being told the complete truth. He was leaving out an important part while making it seem as if nothing of the sort even existed. Her long years of working to apprehend criminals had taught her to trust her instincts with regards to lying. She could smell someone bullshitting her a mile away and right then, her warning indicator was flashing red.

That was not to say that she didn't believe that the boy had killed a sixty foot basilisk. She knew that the boy was telling the truth about his adventure. Calling it an adventure was an understatement. She knew how horrifying the whole experience should have been. She was glad that her niece hadn't encountered the beast. She would not have known what to do, had something happened to her Susan.

There was another pressing matter at hand, as well. She wanted to see the artifact which was capable of such powerful possession. She had never before heard of any diary capable of doing so. The diary talking back was not too alarming, she had seen worse. After all, if a mirror could talk back, what could a mere diary do? She could not blame the girl, either. More intelligent and clever people had fallen for much less.

But a memory possessing someone was an unprecedented occurrence. She wanted to take the diary to the Department of Mysteries.

"Where is the diary now? I would like the specialists down in the Department of Mysteries examine it." Amelia said.

"Well, the diary is currently with me." Dumbledore said while brandishing the diary from a pocket deep within his robes. It had a hole that the fang had obviously burned through the pages of the diary, due to the corrosive nature of basilisk venom. "However, the dark magic has been purged completely from the artifact. There is no residual magic on it. I have already conducted all kinds of tests on it. They have all come back negative. Anyway, the magic in the diary is gone and done with. I'm sure it would be of no consequence to dig up more graves trying to find that which is not there." Dumbledore said with a benign smile.

What Amelia didn't know was that Dumbledore was trying to hide the diary from the authorities, so that it would not bring attention to Riddle's soul anchors. He had spent most of his morning, before she had arrived, to confirm that this was indeed a Horcrux. Dumbledore feared the revelation of the existence of such objects. The Ministry was full of people that were corrupt to the core. Should the information fall into the wrong hands, it would be catastrophic to the wizarding world.

"Don't you think I should be the one to confirm that? This falls under my jurisdiction. Albus, I want that diary to be examined and I will have it be so, even if you do not cooperate!" Amelia said testily.

"Please, Amelia, while I appreciate the reminder of the limits of your jurisdiction, I should, perhaps, refresh your memory. This is Hogwarts. It comes under the sole responsibility of the Headmaster." Dumbledore said to her, his eyes flashing and a deep crimson aura making an appearance, while his countenance remained calm. The oppressive feeling of his magic flowed around everyone present. Harry, Hermione and the two aurors watched awed at the obvious power wielded the old man.

Amelia, however, was less than impressed. "I am aware of the situation, Albus. But since I already am conducting an investigation, I believe this could be considered as a prime evidence of the crime and should you interfere with my work, I am willing to press the 'obstruction of an ongoing investigation' and 'tampering with crucial evidence' charges against you in the Wizengamot. While I doubt they would stick for much long, given your influence and fame, they would at least make your life a little uncomfortable." Amelia was now incensed at how the antique geezer was trying to block her efforts.

"My dear, Amelia, it is not that I doubt your professional ethic. I simply wish to spare you the effort and time, that you will undoubtedly expend on this worthless endeavor." Dumbledore said placatingly, his entire demeanor changing to that of a benevolent grandfather complete with the famous twinkle.

"I assure you, Albus, it is my job and I take it very seriously. You know that I do not consider this to be any burden. Anyway, the tests are going to be run by Croaker and his team." Amelia intoned. "I will simply check any reports and make sure everything is just fine. I think Croaker and his team will be quite interested to find out about the true identity of Tom Marvolo Riddle."

She, her two aurors and Hermione never noticed that they were all hit by a slight pale pink, almost white spell by Dumbledore. He had cast it wandlessly with minimum light show. It was a very mild compulsion spell. The spell would only act for a few hours and was not illegal at all.

"Madam Bones, do you not trust me? I guarantee you that this issue has been resolved completely and the artifact is now totally inert. It shall never again do anything of the sort and of course, the entire thing has been thoroughly inspected by me." Dumbledore looked really disappointed that someone would not believe him on his word alone. It was all a facade to fool the gullible sheep of the world. He knew that Amelia was not a person to be easily outmaneuvered by such flimsy pretences, therefore the use of the mild compulsions.

He knew that, should she ever discover the extent of his manipulations, she would hang him by his own beard and make it look legitimate to his own supporters and aye-sayers.

"In that case I will take my leave. Kingsley, Bernard, follow me! We have much more work to do. Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, it has been a pleasure, though I would have liked our meeting to be in a more pleasant and comfortable setting," she said looking around the hospital with a frown and narrowed eyes.

Amelia couldn't understand why she had been insistent on taking the diary. After all she had much more pressing matters to attend to. She had to deal with Cornelius, the dead man in the school and most infuriating of all, paperwork. The bane of a law enforcement officer's existence. She never figured that these thoughts were not of her own volition.

She turned around and without saying anything else simply walked out with her escorts, leaving behind a confused girl, a cautious boy and a meddlesome headmaster.

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Harry watched as the lady with her two aurors leave cautiously. He had observed Dumbledore casting something, without his wand, at them all. Had he not noticed the spell, he would have fallen to the compulsion as well. He was thankful that whatever the spell was, it was clearly not harmful, just distracting. He knew that somehow the old man had diverted their attention from the diary. That was when Harry realized, 'He knows. He knows that it's a horcrux.'

The old man didn't want anyone else to look deeper into this. 'But why would he do so? Reminder to self, look up different methods of mental manipulation. The old bastard clearly uses such tricks. Now I have to make sure he doesn't cast such things against me or Hermione.'

He was already itching to hex the old goat fucker because he had clearly enchanted Hermione. She was still looking confused over the entire debate that had occurred only minutes before.

Dumbledore turned to Harry to say something when the doors of the infirmary, which had closed behind Amelia and her subordinates banged open. Harry's looked on as Lucius Malfoy swaggered into the room, while kicking a whimpering, three feet tall, creature before him. On a closer look, Harry determined the creature to be Dobby.

He saw the expression on Hermione's face change into horror at the treatment of a living being. He knew then that he needed to help Dobby, just so that she would not feel so horrified. He also looked at Lucius with narrowed eyes, because he was making Hermione feel sad. The blonde prick was really starting to annoy him with his entire attitude.

He saw as Lucius Malfoy stopped in front of Dumbledore and said, "I see that you had the audacity to return after the decision of the governors to remove you from your post." Lucius looked really mad at Dumbledore. Though the old man simply smiled at the prick.

"Lucius, my dear lad, how does this morning find you? Well, as to your concern for my still being here at Hogwarts, the board of governors seemed to be quite terrified when Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the chamber." Dumbledore said peering over his glasses. "They felt that there was no better man for the job of Headmaster than me. Hence, they sent me a missive late, last night, literally begging me to take back the post."

Lucius looked as if he had swallowed a particularly sour lemon and then mistakenly tried to wash it down with a glass of vinegar. Harry had never seen a look of deeper disgust. That was really something since he had lived with Vernon for eleven years.

"They also appeared to under the impression that you would do horrible things to them and their families had they not agreed to remove me from the post of Headmaster." Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with amusement as he said that last bit.

"That is preposterous! I would never do such a thing!" Lucius hissed indignantly. "It does not matter, I shall be having words with them soon about spreading such malicious lies about one of their own. Though, I would like to ask, have you caught the perpetrator? Or has he gone off scot-free?" Lucius's voice turned into a drawl as he enquired.

"Why it was Voldemort, of course! Just like the previous time this had happened. It appears as if he had been possessing a first year girl to complete his ancestor's agenda. A little book being his tool of destruction. How ingeniously innocuous, don't you think, Lucius? After all young women do have a tendency to write in diaries!" Dumbledore said as he displayed the damaged diary to Lucius. "Though the question is, how did she find the diary in the first place. Intriguing, isn't it?"

Harry and Hermione, however, were looking at Dobby's peculiar behavior. He was pointing at the diary and then at his owner following by hitting himself over the head. Suddenly Hermione's eyes widened and she bent over Harry's ear and whispered, "Harry, I think he is trying to tell us that, Malfoy Senior is responsible for the diary."

Harry couldn't help but turn to look at Hermione with a beaming smile as a memory resurfaced in his mind. He then turned his attention towards the two grown men in the room.

"I think we do know how Ginny came across the diary, isn't that right, Lucius, old boy?" Harry mocked.

Lucius whirled around to glare at Harry and said, his voice dripping with loathing, "How would I know where the silly girl obtained the diary. And how dare you call me by my first name, boy!" The Headmaster and Hermione looked on with shock on their faces at Harry's blatant disrespect.

Harry had studied a book in the library about the wizarding genealogy and family trees when he had been looking for a cure for Hermione's. He decided to use that as a taunt. "Well seeing as you were the one who put that diary into Ginny's cauldron in the bookstore in Diagon Alley, I thought you would remember for sure. Though, now that I think of it, all that inbreeding must have had a really deep impact on your intellectual faculties." Harry was infuriated now, though his tone displayed none of his anger at the man. His expression was that of mock concern. His aura flared again.

However on the inside he looked at the man that was responsible for Hermione's petrification. His entire being screamed for vengeance. He controlled the urge to curse the man into the next era. No, he would control himself for now, but soon he would send a message to the prick. One that he would remember forever.

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Hermione saw as Harry mocked Draco Malfoy's father by insulting his entire family. She had heard him curse and swear, while she had been frozen, but to hear him be so cruel was really enlightening. She realized, just how much being a battle mage and having a bit of You-Know-Who's personality would change the sweet, kind and caring boy she knew.

What was worrying even more was that for the first time, she could see his aura. The color of his aura confirmed his story about him possessing a battle mage personality. When she had seen Dumbledore's aura, she had been shocked. The Headmaster was a researcher, not a teacher as one would expect of him. This just proved to her that not everything was as it always appeared.

The appearance of his aura, no matter how slight, told her that he was really angry at Lucius Malfoy for some reason. And if she knew her memory as well as she did, she was sure that it was because of how the man had hurt her. She was sure that Harry was plotting revenge. She just feared that he would not do something he would regret.

She did not want anything to happen to him, either. She decided that she would speak to him later. She would try to deflect him from his course of action. Though she knew that being successful in deviating Harry from his decided path was like trying to lift a mountain using a bar and fulcrum: impossible.

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Harry watched as Lucius' face flushed.

"Why don't you prove it, boy?" Lucius sneered.

"And do what afterwards, Lucy? Give you to the aurors? I don't think so. That would be a waste of my time and effort. Now, come to think of it. Why should I even bother? It's not as if you are any danger to others! Just a mere annoyance that I can deal with anytime." Harry taunted. His brain came up with a new idea, based on a conversation he had had with the elf.

"Let's see, you deserve nothing more than this!" Harry jumped from the bed pulled off his dirty sock and flung it at Lucius. It hit him in the face with a thick fump.

Lucius now was now infuriated. He clutched the sock in his hand, yanked it off his face and threw beside him. He never noticed it landing in Dobby's outstretched hands. Ignoring all around him except the boy who had the audacity to pull off such a stunt he went for his wand in his robes.

Before he could draw the thin piece of wood, the aged Headmaster made his presence known.

"I would advise you to refrain from drawing your wand against a student inside this castle, Lucius." Dumbledore's voice rang with authority and his aura again made an appearance. His blue eyes glowed with fire and his entire body seemed to be ablaze with crimson flames, which was his aura. No one had seen when the old man had drawn his wand and had it pointed towards Lucius' chest.

Lucius seemed to come back to his senses and stowed away his wand back into his robes. He turned and started stalking back out when Dumbledore called after him, "I would also like to remind you, Lucius, that should anymore of Voldemort's old belonging's find their way into the hands of innocents, I will ensure they are traced back to you."

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Lucius sneered at everyone in the room and said, "Dobby, we are leaving you worthless piece of trash! Now, walk!"

Dobby looked at Lucius with a confused look while showing him the sock and said, "Master bes giving Dobby clothes! Dobby bes FREE!"

Lucius' fury rose again and wanted to do something really painful to the boy. But he thought the better of it since he could see the old man watching his every move like a hawk. He even had his wand in his hand, though it wasn't pointed at Lucius.

When Lucius looked at the boy to give him a parting glare he saw that the boy was staring at him emotionlessly. It shook him to the core. The green eyes simply stared back at him with a coldness that could freeze fire. Then there was the aura which was flaring around the boy again. He had not noticed it before during the conversation because he had been really angry and had lost his cognitive ability temporarily. Now, that he was seeing it he was slightly unnerved.

'How much power does this boy truly have? Has Draco really been underestimating the boy so drastically? Have I been listening to Draco's stories for too long. Has the boy fooled everyone?' Lucius thought to himself.

The look in the boy's eyes told him that there would be retribution from the boy. As Lucius turned around to leave the infirmary, the last thought to occur to him was, 'The boy is clearly dangerous.' A cold shiver ran through Lucius' spine.

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A/N:- Next chapter Dobby helps Harry in a number of quests. There might also be Dumbledore's point of view. Thank you dear Readers and reviewers.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

A/N: Hello dear folks! Welcome back to another installment of Her Dark Knight.

Let me first tell you guys how glad I really am with the response from you all. Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen.

This chapter is going to have multi viewpoints squeezed into a single conversation. So, I am not able to divide it up into individual POVs. If someone can give me any hints to write these kinds of chapters by dividing a single scene into individual perspectives, then it would be much appreciated. I understand that this kinda breaks up the flow of the story. But, I don't have any other choice. So, hope you would like it.

Now, onto the story.

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After Lucius had left Dumbledore said to Harry, "Was it a good idea to antagonize the man in that fashion, Harry? Lucius Malfoy is very dangerous."

"That man was responsible for everything that happened in the past few months. Should I have treated him with respect and honor, Professor?" Harry's sneered. "That bastard has no business being inside a school, much less the very school where he endangered the students."

He was struck gently upside over the head by Hermione. She chided softly, "Watch your language in front of the Headmaster, Harry."

"My apologies, Professor." Harry said sheepishly.

"Harry, while I understand your feelings on the matter and agree with them completely, Lucius Malfoy is a man that is to beware of." Dumbledore suggested with a calm voice. "He can make life very troublesome for those who he considers a threat to his power. Many people have lost more than they could afford to the dastardly schemes of that man."

"Professor, if Voldemort himself was not able to take me down, what could a mere houseboy, like Malfoy, do to me?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Is that arrogance I detect in your words, Harry? That is quite unbecoming of you." Dumbledore reprimanded.

"Professor, it is the truth. You say yourself that one must accept the truth about oneself if they were to succeed. Are you saying it is incorrect?" Harry raised one of his eyebrows.

Dumbledore sighed, "Harry, there is a fine line between truth and complacency, my dear lad. You must accept the truth, yes, but you should not overlook facts to make an uninformed decision. It could lead to circumstances with unpleasant consequences. There are facts about Lucius Malfoy you should need to know, before you think of provoking that man into doing something diabolical."

'What a bloody hypocrite!' Harry fumed. 'And what of the prophecy that he has been sitting on for twelve years. Isn't that information I should need to know to make ... what was it... ah, yes, 'an informed decision'! Bloody, goat buggering, old bastard! The classic 'Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do' fucking preacher.'

"All right. I'll stop trying to make an unnecessary enemy out of that man." Harry looked contrite on the outside while bristling with anger and indignation on the inside. He had realized by now that the man held himself to a different standard.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry's downtrodden posture, thinking he had won. He had no idea that Harry was plotting his own scheme to ensure Malfoy's comeuppance. Harry was really enraged at the old goat. Only his gift of occlumency was helping him conceal any emotion showing on his face, except for the apologetic one he had donned to fool the old man. He decided then to follow his parents' advice and limit Dumbledore's interference into his life.

"Harry, my dear boy, I knew you would see reason. Now, I must have to leave. Hagrid will be released sometime later, today. I will ask you to attend tonight's feast since you will be awarded Special Services to the School trophies. Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley will also be awarded them, of course." The old man was smiling as if those awards themselves would correct every bit of hindrance in life.

He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office and headed towards Harry's bed and said, a bit miffed at him for landing himself in her care again, "Well, Mr. Potter, you seem to have recovered. I can detect no problems with your health and as such, I do not see any reason for your prolonged presence in here. In short, you are free to leave. And by the way, Harry, thank you for everything." Here she smiled warmly

At Harry's perplexed look, she elaborated, "You have done more in two years than any other teacher or member of the staff has done in their entire life. You may not realize this, but you have saved this school from closing down permanently. You also removed the threat of that monster from the hearts of students, although they are not aware of it."

Poppy Pomfrey had always prided herself as a person who could stay calm, even in the direst of circumstances. Here, in front of the boy who had effectively broken down her barriers of professionalism, her tears simply flowed as she bent down and hugged the life out of the boy.

Hermione watched the entire scene with moisture coating her own eyes.

Gathering herself after a few moments, Poppy stood back and said firmly, "Now, Mr. Potter I believe you will not grace me with your presence for the rest of the year or I might have to keep you here for the rest of the summer." It could have been taken seriously except her smile ruined the entire effect.

Harry smile at the obvious rebuke and care in her tone and said, "I would have no problem with it, Madam Pomfrey. After all the Dursleys do not make good companions during a holiday." He had unintentionally blurted that out and by the time he had registered that, both Poppy's and Hermione's expression turned stony.

"What do you mean by that, Harry? Don't they treat you properly?" Poppy questioned, her eyebrows narrowing suspiciously.

Harry perceiving his slip of tongue said, "Nothing, I didn't... Just forget I said anything, Madam Pomfrey."

Poppy had experienced many students with abuse in their houses. Many purebloods, half-bloods and muggleborns, who suffered at the hands of parents or guardians, had been treated by her in her entire career as a healer. Pureblood supremacists tortured their children for associating with 'lesser bloods'. Half-bloods had many reasons for inflicting such pain onto their children. Primarily, the parent with non-magical blood would torture the child for believing them to be abominations of nature or God. Muggleborns encountered agony for the same reason.

Most of the children with such problems would never come forth with their hidden horrors. They feared that should their tormentors ever find out that they revealed what had happened to them, they would be punished even more.

Right then she knew that, Harry was the victim of such abuse. Maybe not completely physical, since she would have noticed it before then. She had treated a few fractured bones and teeth of his, the first time he had landed himself in her care. However, she had mistakenly attributed those injuries to the active lifestyle of a young boy. Boys have an unpleasant tendency of getting into confrontations and getting hurt in the process. Now, she was sure they were the result of the 'delicate care' of his 'relatives'. She thought of those words with as much contempt as she could muster. Had she been anything but a gentle soul who could hurt no one, she would have gone to his house and given them a piece of her mind. And if, perhaps a few hexes and curses had found their way into the altercation, it would have been entirely coincidental.

"Mr. Potter, I assure you, that while I do not like to ask you what they did to you, I have to know since it is the only way to help you. I understand that it is very personal, but, I will keep it under strict confidentiality, given my profession. After all, patients would not come to us with their problems if we share those with others, who have no reason to know." Poppy disliked not going to the authorities with such issues, but, rarely any child wanted anyone else to know about these things. It was embarrassing as hell and not many people have the constitution to share them openly. Basic human psychology. Unnecessarily complicating, but absolutely understandable, even permissible.

Harry looked at Hermione, whose expression was resolute, and gulped. Harry now knew that he was in deep trouble. Madam Pomfrey didn't seem like she was going to let this go any time soon and Hermione wasn't helping matters. Both women had their arms crossed and looked pointedly at him. Madam Pomfrey even took out her wand and cast a couple of spells around them. "Silencing spell and a basic Notice-Me-Not charm," she said by way of an explanation.

Sighing to himself resignedly, Harry began his tale. "Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia never hit me much except for a few punches or slaps. They would simply throw me in to the cupboard and starve me for a few days on end. Aunt Petunia usually gave me chores to work around the house. Dudley was the one who used to beat me with the help of his group."

Both women's countenance grew stormy. "What do you mean by cupboard and exactly what chores were given to you?" Poppy asked, her tone ice cold.

"Um... It was the cupboard under the stairs," Harry said sheepishly. "My bedroom for the first ten years. A few days before my eleventh birthday, I was given my cousin, Dudley's, second bedroom. And... the chores... err... I used to cook, weed the garden, prune the rose bushes, paint the fence, wash the car, mow the lawn, clean the dishes, clean the house and a few other things, everyday."

An outburst from beside him startled the shit out of Harry. "WHY THOSE BLOODY BUGGERS! I'LL HAVE THEIR GUTS FOR GARTERS! THOSE HORRIBLE FUCKING CREATURES SHOULD BE STARVED TO DEATH!" Harry was quite impressed with Hermione's colorful language. He saw as her curly tresses rippled around her like a tempest, her amber eyes flashing with rage and her entire body shaking with uncontained rage. As he watched his prim and proper Angel screaming abuses at his relatives, he felt an indescribable and inexplicable swelling in his chest, as if he had sucked in a lot of air.

Poppy Pomfrey looked on wide eyed as she saw the thirteen year old girl lost control of herself in such a fashion. She had always thought Ms. Granger... no, Hermione, as a person who always followed conduct and manners, even against people who wished her ill. The girl was morally very strong and very polite. To see her, get infuriated on behalf of the boy, showed the old nurse exactly how much the girl cared for him. She knew that her previous assumption that the girl liked the boy was a complete misunderstanding; no, she didn't merely like him, she loved him. Her violent explosion was evidence of that fact.

As Hermione calmed down, Harry heard Madam Pomfrey ask a question of Hermione, "So, Ms. Granger, I will presume, depending on your previous surprised exclamation, to state it lightly, that it is not normal to subject a young man to do such work. I am aware that the cupboard situation is absolutely abhorrent, but, I presume your reaction was the result of both issues."

Hermione astonished asked, "Don't tell me! The wizarding world doesn't have this kind of work in their homes?"

"I am afraid it doesn't, Ms. Granger. Most of the jobs named by him are completed with the help of spells and enchantments. And since magic use by underage wizards and witches is completely prohibited they do not do those chores. Cooking is done, only by the adults. However, I am not privy to the workings of a muggle household. As that is where Harry resides, I believe you would be kind enough to share the true extent of his relatives' torment." Poppy said with a grim look on her face.

"Madam, what they are making him do is completely horrible. Any one of them would be a chore given to a child, at only one time in a day. Children below the age of fourteen are not even allowed near a stove to cook. Harry is only twelve and the way he is speaking of this, he has at least three to four years of experience. As for the other work, kids do not know what a garden shears or a lawn mower is. Every one of those pieces of work is supposed to be done by an experienced elder person." Hermione fumed.

"And that is not the least of it. A cupboard! What kind of people make a young innocent child sleep in a BLOODY CUPBOARD?! THOSE FUCKING SONS OF BITCHES! THEY SHOULD ROT IN HELL FOR THEIR SINS!"

Harry couldn't explain the mysterious feeling in his heart. It was painful and at the same time, extremely satisfying. Moreover, there was another emotion that made its presence know; fear. Looking at Hermione, he could see that she was about to lose control. Her magic was flaring wildly and right then he started seeing a particular aura around her; a light crimson. A researcher. His Angel was a researcher. Of course, it was no surprise. She always was the best at discovering, even inventing new ideas and facts. But before he could become awed by her display of an aura, he was beginning to get concerned about the way her magic was making the surrounding objects rattle.

So, he did the only thing he could imagine at the moment, though frankly he was scared she would turn her ire towards him, he hugged her tightly and placed a feather light kiss on her cheek. He felt her immediately freeze in his arms and as she made no move to return the hug. As he buried his face in her crook of her neck, he could feel her previously ragged breathing slowing down steadily.

Hermione was totally dumbstruck and she felt all her rage dissipate in a matter of moments in her astonishment. She could remember only one moment where he had initiated intimate physical contact with her. He had previously kissed her on the forehead when she had been lying in the hospital, petrified. His present actions had surprised her even more since she had ruled his taking that liberty with her previously had been because he had not been aware of her awareness. Now, her mental faculties had deserted her in light of recent events. Suddenly her instinct took over and her arms rose out of their own accord to wrap around Harry.

Poppy watched another intimate moment between the two kids. 'A true love. Comforting one when the other needs them. Really touching.' Again she was given another example of how close these two really were. No matter how hard it was for her to break the cozy scene up, she had to do it.

"Hmm, Hmm." She coughed. The young couple broke abruptly and sprang apart with bright blushes on their faces. "Now, Harry, could you please tell me anything else about your stay with your relatives." She didn't want to know, but, had to. Not so she could do anything to them, given her previous promise of keeping this information confidential. However, she wanted to help him however she could.

"Um... Whatever I used to cook Vernon and Dudley used to eat up. I used to get only a few scraps at most. Last summer I was locked in the bedroom and given a can of tinned soup at most in a day. Until then it had only been me, but last summer even Hedwig suffered with me. She was sequestered in her cage just like I was locked in my bedroom. There were even bars put on my window after Dobby visited me." Harry said with a slight shiver in his voice.

THUD! THUD! THUD! The noise brought everyone's attention to the lone elf in the room. They had all overlooked the little guy, until he started to make the thudding noise by banging his head on the wall. "BAD DOBBY! BAD DOBBY! PUTTING GREAT HARRY POTTER IN TROUBLE! DOBBY BES PUNISHING HIMSELF!"

Harry grabbed the elf by his tiny shoulders and dragged him behind. "Dobby, STOP!" Harry yelled frantically. Astonishingly Dobby halted his self-mutilation and froze abruptly.

"Why were you punishing yourself, Dobby?" Harry asked. He looked at Hermione and Madam Pomfrey, and they watched appalled at the elf's behavior. Hermione had tears in her eyes while looking at the little creature.

"Dobby bes punishing himself because he bes making trouble to Great Harry Potter Sir! Dobby bes acting like bad elf, Sir. And, Great Harry Potter Sir bes too great, Sir. He bes helping poor Dobby after Dobby bes putting Great Harry Potter Sir in danger!" Dobby was totally hysterical by now and crying fat tears.

"Dobby, please stop crying." Dobby's breath hitched at Harry's words and he stopped crying immediately. "You may have put me in danger but I am fine now. No harm done. And as for helping you, I was just doing what I thought was right. You don't have to thank me for helping a friend, right?" At Dobby's inquisitive look, Harry elaborated, "You, Dobby! I helped you because you are a friend."

Dobby's expression brightened immediately and he squeaked, "The Great Harry Potter Sir be calling Dobby 'friend'? Sir bes truly Great!" His eyes started to leak again as the little guy couldn't handle his emotions in.

Hermione and the healer watched the scene with fascination as they saw the devotion Harry could inspire in everyone.

"Dobby," Madam Pomfrey started, "Harry called you a friend. So, are you a true friend of Harry?"

Dobby straightened up instantly and answered her in a proud tone, "Dobby bes giving his life for Great Harry Potter Sir."

"Then, you are going to be working for Harry from now on. You will look after him in the summer and providing him with everything that he can't obtain for himself. Is that ok, Dobby?"

Dobby started jumping and his ears flapped around him as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Miss Pompy. Dobby bes honored to work for Great Harry Potter Sir! Dobby will keeps Great Harry Potter Sir's secrets. Oh, Yes!" Dobby clapped a fist on his chest to prove his determination and loyalty.

At Hermione and Harry's inquisitive looks Poppy clarified, "Harry, Dobby will be a great asset to you in summers. Elves have their own brand of magic to work, cook and help their Masters in any way possible. And, obviously, Dobby is very loyal to you, by his own declaration. He can help you get anything you want without getting detected. His unique magic won't even get you into trouble."

"How can that be? I was blamed by the Improper Use of Magic office last summer because Dobby used his magic." Harry said skeptically.

Dobby interfered hesitatingly, "If Dobby may, Master Harry Potter Sir, Dobby bes copying yous signature to bes using magic. And that is why you bes blamed, Sir." He then slowly looked towards the adjacent bedside table as if preparing to lunge at it and begin banging his head against it as way of punishment.

Harry quickly ordered, "Don't! Dobby, don't punish yourself! Thank you for telling me that. Just a little question, Dobby. Can you use magic that won't get me in trouble with the ministry?"

"Of course, Sir, Dobby bes never getting Master into trouble, Sir! Never again, Sir!" Dobby stated firmly, though his squeaky voice ruined the effect.

"That's all well and good, but, Harry, do you have enough in your bank vault to pay Dobby?" Hermione decided to interrupt at that point. "You will be paying him right? You will have to give him enough to..."

Whatever he had to do was lost in the sudden wailing of Dobby, "Great Master Harry Potter Sir's Miss Hermy bes talking about paying Dobby! Poor Dobby never bes getting paid! Miss Hermy bes truly great to bes Master harry Potter Sir's friend!"

Hearing the elf's last statements Hermione was again getting enraged. "What do you mean you were never paid? Don't house elves get paid? What about sick leave, pension and other basic allowances?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Looking at Dobby's current distraught state Madam Pomfrey decided to answer the girl's questions. "Ms. Granger, house elves do not get paid. And neither do they get sick leave nor pensions. There are no such things such as allowances for house elves. They are bound to a family and they serve them unconditionally. A few families even torture their elves for whatever reason they think is right. Elves are quite rare and are only available to a select few families all around the magical world. They have to be bought at a very high price, so a lot of families can't afford them at all."

Hermione's countenance shifted from scandalized to incensed and she spat out her words, "Slavery! Slavery? Slavery still exists in the wizarding world? I am beginning to think that this is not a world I would like to live forever! For Christ's sake, this world is millennia behind the muggle one and the purebloods regard us as second rate citizens! RACIST, PRO-NAZI, LIMP DICK MOTHERFUCKERS!" Hermione had never experienced such a roller coaster of emotions as she had on that day and the surprises weren't finished.

"Ms. Granger, while I can understand your righteous indignation on behalf of the downtrodden, you too need to understand this: Elves Like Work. Elves are bonded to wizards in a very weird way. It is in the history books. I do not know the details, but it seems as if elves live happily on the amount of satisfaction that they can provide to their masters." Poppy began explaining.

"Now the house elf culture was established sometime in the early 1700s, so their behavior continues to be what they were taught at that time. For example, the corporal punishment and titles given to their owners, they are all remnants of a long passed era. While I believe you can educate them, I do not think you will be able to free them completely without jeopardizing their health. For those details though, you would need to talk with Dobby at leisure. Ms. Granger, a piece of advice if you will. Please do not, at any moment, try to accomplish something that would ultimately cause harm to others. Find out as much as you can about the situation before you plunge in headfirst." Poppy warned the enthusiastic girl.

"Of course, Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione.

"Now, back to the matter at hand. Harry, I believe you will have to undergo a potions regime to treat your malnutrition." Poppy wrote down the required potions and the times at which he had to take them. "It is going to take a couple of months to rectify the entire problem. The potions will be readily available at any apothecary in Diagon alley or Hogsmeade, at a reasonable price. Dobby will be capable of handling those transactions for you easily, if you give him enough money. However, remember that these potions will only work if your food intake is appropriate. Think of these as nutrition supplements. They won't work without proper diet. In a few weeks you will be able to see the effects clearly if you keep eating well."

She took another parchment and tapped her wand to it. "This is the nutrition chart you will have to follow to get back in shape. And, exercise regularly. A few rounds around the neighborhood will do a lot of good for you. Dobby will help you with the food part. His magic is quite powerful, after all. Elves can do a lot of amazing things. There are tales of elves which even defended their masters. There is a rumor that the binding magic of elves is unbreakable and that a person tied up by the elves can never be released."

Harry's interest was piqued. He could use that rumor to good use if it was true. He already had a few people who would do a lot of good if they were captured.

Madam Pomfrey said, "OK, now you both may leave. And Mr. Potter," here she sounded stern, "please, do not grace me with your presence for the rest of the year. I cannot tolerate any more shocks that you manage to gift me with. I used to think your parents were bad. Somehow, you have managed to surpass them completely." She then smiled at the last part.

Saying their goodbyes the two left the hospital wing holding hands followed by the elf.

"This is going to be a fun summer!" said Harry excitedly on the way to the Great Hall for lunch. It was already noon. The discussions had taken a long time.

"Why?" Hermione asked happily as she had never seen Harry look so excited before.

"The Dursleys won't know what hit them when Dobby will help me with the chores around the house. You will, won't you, Dobby?" he enquired the elf.

"Yes, Yes, Great Master Harry Potter Sir! Dobby bes helping Master Harry Potter Sir in his chores, Sir," the elf squeaked enthusiastically.

"And, you know the best part is that they won't be able to do anything about it. They are going to be happy as well as angry. Their jobs get done and I don't get punished in the process. Win-Win situation for me! Of course Dobby will be paid well. Anything you want," he continued while looking at Dobby, "you will get it as long as I do have the money to provide for it." Harry said as fat tears leaked out of the elf's eyes

Hermione felt really happy at Harry getting whatever he wanted for the first time in his life. She smiled and said, "I think I can manage Dad and Mum to invite you over to our house for a little while. They would like to meet you as well, Dobby."

"Really?" Harry hugged Hermione tightly as he asked, "Um, will they like me? I mean, it would be the first time I am going to see them personally, after all. What if they don't like me?"

Hermione took a moment to respond as his hug had derailed her thoughts, "I am sure they are going to love you, Harry! They will not be able to resist. You are not that hard to love." Hermione smiled at him as he beamed at her.

They continued their walk as they both started to think about the importance of the other in their own life. Neither had realized that she had all but proclaimed her love for him.

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A/N:- I humbly apologize for the delay in updating. It has been almost a month since I last updated and I believe, you guys are really upset at me for taking so long. I am really Sorry, folks.

Now, another apology for losing my creative genius in this chapter. Honestly, I hit a block midway through the chapter and I could not find any way out of it. I tried for a long time and finally the chapter just built itself. I understand that this chapter could be considered a filler with not much content. Again please forgive me if you find this chapter totally boring.

Now, I had wanted to add Dumbledore's perspective in this chapter. Really I tried my best but, it seems that magic stopped me again. My imagination went haywire and Dumbledore's POV was becoming too long to be included in this one. So, next installment will definitely bring you the much anticipated infamous Dumbledore POV as well as some action.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I really am saddened that I do not own HP or its derivatives. It belongs to the Queen of Magic, J.K. Rowling. I can only borrow her characters for some time.

A/N:- Hello Folks! I'm back again with an update to your favorite Her Dark Knight.

Now let me present to you the much anticipated Dumbledore POV.

A humble reminder to all my readers, this story is M rated, for a reason.

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Albus Dumbledore was pacing distressed in his ostentatious office, muttering to himself, while being watched by his phoenix, Fawkes and the Sorting Hat of Hogwarts. The reason for his current state of mind was one Harry Potter. When he had left the boy in the 'diligent care' of his 'relatives' he had hoped that the brat would turn out as he had hoped. A meek and highly insecure young lad who could be molded into the perfect sacrificial lamb. The prejudiced and oppressive upbringing the little nuisance would grow up in, would ensure that the offspring of a mudblood whore would have absolutely no self confidence and would agree to anything that the Great Albus Dumbledore told him i.e. sacrifice himself to ultimately lead to the demise of Voldemort.

Now, why would Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light, Order of Merlin - First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, want a defenseless child to be brought up for slaughter? Simple, for ultimate power. He already held a great deal of power magically but the sheep of the wizarding world would one day forget him if he didn't make an impression on them that was strong enough to leave a lasting impact. He wanted the people to consider him to be a warlock greater than the legends of Merlin and the Founders. Merlin was considered the greatest wizard of all time in the entire world since he was the first battle mage whose Hammerstein Magical Index showed a record power of seven hundred and thirteen points.

His own HMI was recorded at six hundred and thirty nine points. Gellert's was recorded at six hundred and fifty four points. Just two more points and he could have been declared as a grand sorcerer. The HMI was measured between the ages of thirty five to fifty when most people would have reached their third magical maturity. There were six classes of wizards, namely: novice, sorcerer, mage, warlock, grand sorcerer and Merlin class. Most wizards were between sorcerer and mage classes. The HMI distributions were novice - one hundred to two hundred and twenty, sorcerer - two hundred and twenty one to three hundred and seventy, mage - three hundred and seventy one to five hundred and ten, warlock - five hundred and eleven to six hundred and forty, grand sorcerer - six hundred and forty one to seven hundred. Anything more than seven hundred was considered Merlin class. Only three wizards had been born after Merlin that were considered Merlin class, though none of them had surpassed his HMI score. They were above seven hundred but below seven hundred and thirteen.

Gellert and him had been really powerful and were going to be really successful, but Gellert had decided that Albus' methods of cunning plans and manipulations were too slow for his tastes. The reckless and confrontational attitude of Gellert had been the things that brought him down. At Gellert's thoughts he started to think about the truth of the fight between him and Gellert Grindelwald.

Albus had defeated Gellert through deception instead of a headlong duel to the death. While Gellert was more powerful than Albus was and depended upon his ability to expend more power than anyone could, Albus had finesse and skill with magic. But Albus also had help from a traitor in Gellert's ranks. One of Gellert's lieutenants, Galena Dimitar, had been seduced by Albus. Nobody knew that Albus was bisexual. Galena fell in love with the suave, charismatic and powerful teacher of Hogwarts. However, Albus had only been interested in bedding the beautiful Bulgarian redhead and utilizing her for his own agenda. She had been a real wildcat in bed. Galena was so powerful and skilled with a wand that even Bellatrix Lestrange could not measure up to her if Bellatrix's sadistic inclinations were disregarded. During the battle between Albus and Gellert, Albus had been losing slowly because of Gellert's natural power and the augmentation provided by the Elder Wand when Galena, literally, backstabbed Gellert with a poisoned dagger. She was rewarded by getting a killing curse to the face, courtesy of Albus. The look of betrayal on Galena's face had mirrored the look on Gellert's face. Gellert had also been attracted to Galena, but never had the chance to profess his crush, as world domination was time consuming.

Albus had then cursed Gellert repeatedly using his injury to his advantage. After disarming Gellert and taking possession of the Wand of Destiny, Albus shackled Gellert and knocked him unconscious and also treated Gellert's wound from the poisoned dagger. It would not do for the Great Albus Dumbledore to have won a duel using dubious means. Upon the arrival of reinforcements of the light side, Albus spun a tale of a grand duel between him and Gellert. A few well placed memory charms and confundus spells ensured that his story was believed without suspicion.

Galena had been portrayed as a woman who had come to the aid of her master and had been killed by her own master's missed curse. Galena, after all, had served her purpose and was no longer required. She would have become an obstacle in his quest for absolute power, since she had already intended to declare her true allegiances, announce her pregnancy, with Albus's child, and had been pressurizing Albus into marrying her. He had hated the fact that he had to kill Galena personally. He didn't mind killing as long as someone else did the dirty work for him. In the rare event that he did have to soil his hands, he made certain that none were traced back to him in any way. Gellert had then been imprisoned at Nurmengard with his memory modified to match Albus' version of events.

Albus had shown the gullible sheep of the magical world the facade of a benevolent old grandfather and had accomplished a lot while making sure his dirty dealings were concealed. After the Grindelwald fight, Albus had risen quite quickly in Hogwarts, Wizengamot and the ICW. His popularity with the masses had been at an all time high, when Voldemort struck. He had been expecting to have a lot of time to build his power base and ensure his permanent standing within the society, when Voldemort had started to demolish everything he had established. However, he then realized the amount of help Voldemort could provide him to strengthen his prominence in the wizarding world. He would be the only person in history to have defeated two really powerful dark wizards and cement his position as the true Leader of the Light for all eternity. Everyone would listen to anything that he would say. He could become the ruler of the wizarding world and no one would question his true intentions. That was why he had rejected the position of Minister Of Magic position persistently. Why would anyone want to be a mere minister when they could be King?

This brought Albus Dumbledore back to the matter at hand. Harry Potter! Oh, how he wished he could strangle the little shite with his bare hands. The bastard was the one thing in between him and true power. While he understood that prophecies were really ambiguous in their fulfillment, he also knew that some prophecies came true. Not because there was some grand scheme of the Gods at play, but because of the direct intervention of humans. He had actually hoped to bring down Voldemort with the help of his trusty weapon: the Order of the Phoenix. However, it hadn't seemed to be so. The prophecy came into the picture when he had been really desperate for some sort of respite from the onslaught of Voldemort. However much he hated to say so, Voldemort had been a really powerful wizard. While his original HMI was recorded at only five hundred and ninety seven, the dark rituals he underwent, supplemented his core increasing his HMI to six hundred and seventy points and he had begun to prove to be a really difficult man to beat.

That was when the prophecy had been uttered by that moronic, alcohol-addicted, bitch of a seer to him in private, in his office. She had prophesized of a boy born to parents who have thrice defied Voldemort. Two pregnant women fit the description. Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom were due to give birth some time near to the prophesized date. He then had a brainwave and decided to capitalize on this situation. The Potters were a really old and powerful family with really dangerous family magic. While they were rich, it was not money Albus had been interested in. It was the knowledge that people never knew that the Potters possessed. Knowledge, a power beyond all measure. Potter family magic was really powerful. No one but a Potter could access them and Albus desired that power.

He knew that Voldemort knew about it as well and would prioritize attacking the Potters rather than the Longbottoms. He could take care of two owls with one curse. He then cast the Imperious on the bitch and made her recite half the prophecy while he made sure that Snape, who he knew was an agent of Voldemort, stood behind the closed door of a room in the Hog's Head Inn. A wandless compulsion on Snape made sure that the information reached the ears of The Dark Lord.

Then he used the influence he had on the young Potter and Longbottom couples to make them shift bases from their ancestral homes to places where he knew they would be vulnerable, all while making false claims of safety to them. But, the real problem in his grand plan was the older Potter couple, Charles and Dorea Potter. They were highly suspicious of Albus' insistence to move James and Lily. The Potter manor had some really dangerous and impenetrable wards around it. Even Voldemort had never dared to directly stage a siege on the manor because he was aware of the fact that the manor and the wards around it, themselves would take at least two-thirds of his forces to pierce through, not to mention Charles, Dorea, James and Lily would cut down everyone else while his men spent a lot of time bringing down the wards.

Charles was a Potter Lord through and through. Highly discreet about their personal lives and family businesses, the Potters were notorious of holding many secrets. They were also very powerful politically, socially, financially and magically and mistrustful of anything and anyone. That included Albus Dumbledore. Even after Albus' fight with Grindelwald, Charles never trusted Albus' actions and intentions. Dorea was another major pain in the arse. She was a true daughter of Black and a true Lady Potter. Well versed in Politics and Business strategies, she was the perfectly complimenting partner of Charles. But, that wasn't where her abilities ended. She was also a terrific duelist that had been trained by her brother Arcturus Black, the then Lord Black. Brilliantly trained in every field of magic, including the Dark Arts, Charles and Dorea made a highly distinguished couple who were considered a nightmare to their opponents in any field, be it financial, political, social or magical.

While he and his wife Dorea had joined up in the Order, they had always been the first ones to always disobey his rule of using non-lethal force to bring down the Death Eaters. He had been really disappointed of their apathetic behavior with regards to upstanding members of the magical civilization. When he had ensured that James and Lily would move from Potter Manor to Godric's Hollow, with the help of mind-altering potions and charms, Charles and Dorea had vehemently argued against the move. However, James and Lily prevailed over them both and had shifted to Godric's Hollow where the defenses were meager at best. A few compulsion potions on Sirius made sure that he would propose Peter Pettigrew as the potential secret keeper instead of himself or even worse, James Potter himself. He knew that Peter had been the spy who had been passing information over to the Dark Side. The man was the worst Occlumens in the world. Even a new born baby would have better Occlumency shields than Pettigrew did.

He himself cast the Fidelius and obliviated the knowledge from everyone's mind, ensuring that no one would ever think he had something to do with their deaths. He also spent enough time subtly altering Sirius' thoughts to ensure that after the deaths of his two best friends he would chase after Pettigrew rather than give priority to baby Harry. He had to be very careful with that, since Sirius was a Black and the Blacks very infamous for their skill in the Mind Arts. After his plan had been successfully implemented, the young couple was dead, the reckless puppet was in Azkaban, the rat had disappeared after putting his best friend in prison and the brat had been locked away in a muggle household which would ensure him being subdued and downtrodden. He, Albus Dumbledore would again stage the deaths of the older Potter couple and make sure that every bit of the Potter knowledge was put in his hands by declaring himself as the child's magical guardian.

But, he had never foreseen the shrewdness displayed by Charles and Dorea. They went under lockdown in their own manor and made sure that they never ventured out alone into the wizarding world. They also froze every Potter property and asset, including bank accounts, with the stipulation that no one but Harry could access them. Dorea also made sure their wills were registered with the ICW instead of the Wizengamot, where he could have easily locked them like he had done with James's and Lily's wills. And since Charles and Dorea were the Lord and Lady Potter, their word was law when it came to the properties. They couldn't have been killed had they not ventured out into the Ministry Of Magic to fight a custodial battle with Albus. They had been assassinated by a group of Death Eaters, who had been informed of the time and place they would be. What no one knew was that those so called Death Eaters had been mercenaries who had been hired by Albus through a third party, who, in turn, had been under the severe control of mind altering potions and charms. All of the mercenaries, twenty five in total, had ended up dead by the time those two had finished fighting. The public had been astounded to see the audacity of those death eaters to attack a prominent wizarding couple in the middle of the Ministry building in broad daylight.

But by the time Albus realized what the older Potter couple had done it was too late. The power he had so diligently sought had been taken away from him just as he had been about to get his hands on it. He, at least, had the Invisibility Cloak of Death in his hands which, combined along with the Elder wand, made him the owner of two artifacts from the Deathly Hallows.

However, his plan was still working perfectly. The brat had arrived at Hogwarts weak, malnourished and susceptible to Albus's influence. He had sent Hagrid, who was the perfect submissive follower, to retrieve him to make sure that Harry had a highly prejudiced way of looking at the wizarding world. He could get the power he desired by raising the brat to be the sacrifice. With the destruction of the Horcrux within the brat, he would be able to defeat Voldemort and be lauded as the second coming of Merlin. The brat had successfully fallen into the trap that he had laid out for him in his first year. He had gone after the Sorcerer's stone believing that it had been real and wanting to keep it safe from Voldemort. He never realized that Albus had replaced the original with a fake. He had kept the original for himself as he believed that the Leader of the Light deserved immortality and riches more than anyone else.

However, he had been fooled again. Nicolas and Perenelle had given him a fake as well. That couple was also crafty and had made sure that no one could get their hands on the original. After the debacle of last year, when he had contacted the Flamels, they had appeared unconcerned that their stone had been destroyed (the story he had fabricated). He should have realized something was wrong then. He had been fooled quite thoroughly by his old friends and had only realized it after he had tried to turn lead into gold. That had caused the consumption of quite a few headache relieving potions.

This year things had taken a wrong turn and descended into a spiral. The attacks on mudbloods didn't trouble him much since that was what he hoped for, the muggle world to be under the control of the magical one. What truly began to perturb him was the fact that his puppet seemed to start to grow a backbone. Things were good until that mudblood Granger had been petrified. He had been getting daily reports of the trio's activities from the portraits and he was aware of everything those three got up to.

He wasn't worried about the redheaded disposal bin that accompanied those two. He was a lazy and bumbling fool that rode the coattails of two-thirds of the trio. The Weasleys were a loyal bunch but they lacked the ambition needed for them to follow some of his grander plans. Had Molly been a bit more willing he would have written up a marriage contract between Harry and Ginny. However, that woman had a kind soul and would never force the brat and her daughter into such an arrangement. While she was overbearing, her heart was in the right place. Her husband was a simple person with no lofty aspirations. She only went through the Platform plan because she was truly convinced that she was helping a poor orphan with his first day at school. The Weasleys' blind devotion to himself could be used for his purposes at times, though. Like when he had subtly indicated to them that it would be in the best interests of the brat that they should keep an eye on him and report any disturbing news regarding him. They never suspected that he was simply using them as spies.

The mudblood Granger was another matter entirely. She was sharp and highly studious. He had foreseen that she would be trouble if she ever got involved with the nuisance Potter. She would inspire the son of a bitch to perform well in his classes, read ahead and make sure he reached his true potential. He hadn't been too worried about her, even after she had become his friend after the events of that fateful Halloween. He had seen that Harry was more inclined to listen to the redhead than the mudblood. Although, that all changed with the attack on the girl. He had been happy because her influence over the brat had diminished. He had also been disappointed because the influence had not totally disappeared since that was what would have happened, had she died in the attempt on her life.

It had changed Potter's attitude with regards to his own studies. He had grown more determined to exact retribution upon the person who had hurt his friend and had devoted a lot of time trying to figure out what it was that had petrified her. He also began to read ahead and practice spells and curses, ahead of his coursework. And from what he had seen of the results today, he was sure that Potter would grow to be a really powerful wizard, with a lot of destructive capability. The portraits around the castle were notifying him of latest developments as soon as possible. The aura he had seen around the brat when he had confronted Lucius had distressed him greatly, again. The brat was a battle mage. Those people were infamous for their skill and mentality in battle.

And the fact that the brat was displaying his aura, a very rare phenomenon, was even more upsetting. Oh, how he wished he had bound the bastard's magic when he had the chance! He had, in his haste to put the bane of his existence in a lot of misery, forgotten all about binding the brat's magic. Had he done so, his magic would have been stunted just as his body was and he would have had no chance of opposing Albus. And by the time he was seven years old, it was too late. The brat had reached his first magical maturity and no binding could ever work on him. He would simply break free and it would be even more catastrophic, since any such breaking free would mean a small explosion, which would kill everyone in the immediate area. He needed the Dursleys to keep him broken psychologically, so he had not tried it even if had not particularly cared about the bastard. The bastard even seemed to have mastered Occlumency, though how he had retrieved any information regarding that particular branch of magic was a mystery to the old headmaster.

He had to be careful from now on since he couldn't control him through Legilimency anymore without having to resort to desperate measures which would tip off his hand early. He had to plan his next move very meticulously, all while, keeping an even closer look on the son of a bitch's activities to ensure he did not grow too powerful. After all he had a destiny to fulfill. "Yes, I'll make sure that the boy will walk down to the sacrificial altar when the time comes." he murmured to himself while he exited his office to inform the students of everything that had occurred the previous night.

Unknown to him, the Sorting Hat chuckled to itself. 'Oh, Dear Albus, a storm is brewing which will turn into a tsunami and there is nothing you can do to stop it. That lad will find out his true destiny, one about which you are not aware of. And when he accepts it, he will rise above everything else and consume you in the process. The time for judgment has come, Albus, and you my friend are going to be found guilty.' Fawkes trilled a happy note at the Sorting Hat's thoughts.

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Ron Weasley sat at the Gryffindor table at breakfast, surrounded by the rest of his brothers, while the mood in the hall was subdued at best and really depressing at worst. Fred and George were completely downtrodden and he was really worried seeing them so depressed since he had never seen them like that ever before. Percy was hiding in the common room still. He hadn't even seen Harry for a very long time since he was usually at Hermione's side or sneaking off somewhere half the time. Even the teachers were mysteriously absent. They were all mourning the loss of Ginny when the doors to the Great Hall banged open to let an influx of students into the Great Hall. Every one of them was a victim of the attacks on muggleborns. That was when he realized that all those students had been cured of their petrification and he felt resentment towards them at being all right while his sister had been taken into the chamber, presumed dead. Though, he didn't see Hermione or Harry anywhere in the crowd he somehow knew that they were together.

A scream of disbelief from the twins stirred him from his contemplation. He looked to see his sister Ginny running towards the twins, followed by his parents. The twins picked up their little sister and twirled her around shouting incoherently while Ginny was laughing hysterically to be in the company of her older brothers. His parents were smiling looking at the scene with misty eyes. Ron didn't understand what was going on and he was looking at the scene, with his jaw wide open. The last time he had heard his sister had been taken into the chamber and now here she was, just fine, and he couldn't analyze how it had happened. The twins let go of her and she sprung into the arms of Ron which kick started his brain and he too started laughing and hugging her tightly to himself.

Everyone else in the Great Hall was looking at this scene in disbelief, since they too had presumed that the youngest Weasley was dead. How she was alive was a mystery to everyone. Right then, McGonagall entered the Great Hall and went to the podium. Everyone fell silent to hear what was happening.

"Students, unprecedented events have happened in the school since yesterday. As you can see Ms. Ginevra Weasley is hale and healthy and has rejoined us. The Chamber of Secrets problem has been solved and the monster is confirmed dead." A loud cheer went up at that announcement. "Mr. Potter went into the Chamber of Secrets, late last night to retrieve his friend's sister alone and was successful in his endeavor. He also defeated the Heir of Slytherin and won against the Basilisk, the monster in the Chamber." Mutterings began spontaneously at McGonagall's declaration. The student population had already known that Harry wasn't the Heir but the revelation that he waded into the Chamber and killed the monster had stunned them. 'How could a twelve year old go into the Chamber and kill a basilisk, an endeavor that had stumped a long line of brilliant teachers and headmasters?' was the question asked by many.

"Unfortunately, this year has not ended without bad news," McGonagall continued in a downhearted tone, "It seems that someone had a personal vendetta against our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and vented it out in a very brutal fashion. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart is dead." This declaration caused a cacophony from the students. Many gasped, a lot of girls and younger students began to cry. "He was murdered," she continued, "by someone that hasn't been identified yet. I entreat to everyone in the castle to please volunteer any information you might possess to help us in apprehending the criminal." A few of the students began to speculate if it was the Heir of Slytherin who had killed the DADA professor. However, the general consensus among those students who hated him was, 'Good Riddance!'

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. First Harry had gone into the Chamber, alone, and defeated the Heir of Slytherin. Not only that, but, he also had rescued his sister and killed a basilisk. Ron had no idea what that was but he knew that it must have been something which could have brought him fame as well. And someone had killed Lockhart. He couldn't understand why Harry had not taken him on his adventure as he had done the last time. He could have solved another chess set or something similar and gotten some house points and popularity as well. However, it seemed that Harry had been maintaining his distance from him for some reason. But he was definitely going to ask Harry when he found him. 'That bloody glory hound! How dare he not make Ronald Weasley a part of his plan?' McGonagall had announced that more notices would be given later by the Headmaster at lunch and since classes were cancelled for the day he would have to wait for however long it took Harry to come.

So he finished his breakfast and waited with his family in the Gryffindor Common Room, where Percy had also been given the good news of Ginny's return. Everyone in the family was sitting right beside Ginny and wasn't letting her out of sight as if she would disappear again when they weren't looking. Ron, though, was more concerned that Harry had not appeared and Hermione too seemed to be absent. Every petrified victim had come back except Hermione. The common room was a mixture of happiness and grief. Happiness over the fact that the Heir of Slytherin business was over and sadness because of Lockhart's death, though, that grief was only felt by select members of the female population.

Soon, it was lunch time and yet, there was no sign of Harry or Hermione. So, the Weasleys along with the rest of Gryffindor house headed to lunch to hear Dumbledore's notices. As soon as they entered the hall they could see all the teachers present there along with Dumbledore who looked a bit sad although his eyes twinkled when he laid his eyes on the students who had recovered. McGonagall had a serious expression on her face which was reciprocated by Flitwick, Sprout, and others. Severus Snape seemed to be the only exception. He appeared as if he was trying hard not to smirk.

There were black banners strung throughout the hall, of which Ron didn't know the reason. Just then Dumbledore stood at the announcement podium and the hall went silent.

"This year has been truly dreadful for everyone." Dumbledore began to speak in a disheartened tone. "Everyone of us had been facing a threat that would have destroyed everything we held dear to us. Had that threat been allowed to continue, we would have faced a loss which was completely unaffordable. An entire generation of Muggle-borns killed by the actions of a single person would have meant catastrophic results for our world. Although, that is not to say that we have come out of this ordeal unscathed. We have lost someone very dear to all of us, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. He had been assaulted by an unidentified assailant. It seems our Professor had fought valiantly to protect himself, though his efforts were futile. As Professor McGonagall has already stated, the person to come forth with any information relating to this incident will be rewarded."

"Moreover," he continued, while his eyes regained their accursed twinkle, "we cannot forget the person who was responsible for the passing of the nightmare known as the Chamber of Secrets. Had it not been for the valiant efforts of one of our own, that nightmare might have become a reality. Harry Potter! Not only did he enter the Chamber alone, he also defeated the basilisk which was the cause of so many petrifications. He also retrieved miss Ginevra Weasley from the place, while everyone believed her to be dead. And, for that Mr. Potter will be awarded two hundred points alone, while his friends Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will be awarded hundred points each for their assistance in finding out the truth of the chamber." A cheer went through the Great Hall at Dumbledore's declaration. Gryffindor table groaned under the incessant banging of gold goblets on its surface. Screams and claps combined with the banging reached a crescendo that had almost rendered the rest of the occupants of the hall deaf. McGonagall smiled proudly at the thought of having the House Cup in her possession for the next year as well. She was glad that Harry Potter was in her house.

Ron, though, was infuriated. 'How could Harry do this to me? I deserve more fame that what I have gotten! I had been the one who had entered into the Forbidden Forest with Harry! I had been the one who had encountered the crowd of gigantic acromantula with him! I had been the one to drive the bloody car out of the forest! And, I had definitely had been the one to save his sorry arse! Yet, all I have gotten are a hundred points! What was a basilisk, anyway? Was it another three-headed dog? Surely the teachers are exaggerating the events that happened. Harry couldn't have done anything astounding. And what, the bloody hell, was that about Hermione? She was lying in a hospital wing for most of the time. How had she helped anyone? I am going to get to the bottom of this,' Ron resolved.

As if hearing his silent pledge, Harry and Hermione entered together, with their hands intertwined.

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Harry couldn't be more happier with how things seemed to be working out. He had left the hospital wing with his best friend Hermione, fully recovered, beside him. Moreover, he had solved the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and he knew a lot about why the psychopathic murderer had attacked his family that long ago. He was also quite satisfied that he had also gotten a way to effectively neutralize the Dursleys without resorting to violence. He also began to think about the best ways to exact his revenge upon both Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius Black was also a priority. When he had found out that Sirius, his godfather, had been wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, he had been absolutely furious. He had to get Sirius out. By any means necessary. And, as he knew exactly where Pettigrew was, he could use him to clear his name.

He glanced at Hermione and was really ecstatic about the invitation to her house in the summer. He could imagine the amount of fun he could have with her. Moreover, there would be no Dursleys to ruin things for him. Just as they reached the Great Hall, Dobby spoke, "Master Harry, Sir, Dobby bes going, Sir. Wes not allowed to be in the Great Hall, Sir. Tis not mark of a good House Elf to bes seen in public, Sir."

Harry responded, "Oh alright then. Dobby, please come and meet me after dinner tonight, okay. I need something done and I want to see if you can help me with it."

Dobby nodded once before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

Hermione had watched the interaction quietly and spoke as soon as Dobby left, "What did you want to get done?"

Harry answered hesitantly, "Um... Its just a thing that appeared on the top of my mind. Don't worry about it."

"Harry!" Hermione began warningly. "What is it?"

"C'mon, Angel, just let it go, okay?" He replied in a pleading tone. "Its nothing. It isn't anything dangerous! I promise! Anyway we have a lot to talk about after lunch, you know. I'll even teach you the spells I learnt when you weren't there!" By the end of it, he began to sound really desperate.

Hermione was beginning to get amused as she saw him trying to change the subject. She knew he was going to attempt something she wouldn't like but didn't want to badger him about it. "Alright then. Just be careful. Okay? If you need me for something, let me know." She didn't like it, not knowing what he was going to do. But she realized that she couldn't smother him by being overbearing. He had accomplished a lot while she had been petrified and she knew that he could take care of himself.

They entered the Great Hall and headed towards the Gryffindor table. They had noticed that the entire hall had fallen silent and everyone was staring at them intently. Just as they approached their table every student, except those in Slytherin house, began to clap and cheer for Harry. He blushed and sat down beside the contingent of Weasleys, while Hermione took the seat on his other side.

Just as they sat down Ron appeared before them, his countenance a luminescent red. "Why didn't you take me into the Chamber, mate?" he exploded without preamble. "It was my sister and I am your best friend, aren't I? So why the bloody hell, didn't you take me with you mate? What? Didn't think Ron Weasley was good enough for you? You just had to go and take all of the credit, didn't you, you little glory-hound?"

The entire hall had fallen silent again except for the snickering emanating from the Slytherin end of the hall. The Weasleys were watching their family member in shock. Mr. Weasley and Percy were shaking their heads in consternation. The twins were watching their retarded brother with open mouths. Ginny seemed to be too stunned to do anything but gape. Mrs. Weasley was simply furious. She couldn't believe her own son was so impertinent. Hermione was watching her best friend in astonishment too. Harry had really been expecting something like this. So, it wasn't too much of a surprise to him. Hermione, however, had never known that Ron could be so shallow.

But Ron's tirade hadn't ended, far from it actually. " And what has Hermione done except getting petrified. She was just lying there in the hospital wing doing nothing. Why does she deserve a hundred points? I was the one to..." He was cut off there by the entire table rattling and a glowing wand-tip pointed between his eyes.

Molly Weasley was completely incensed. She couldn't believe that her own son wasn't happy that his best friend had risked his life to save his sister. Instead the ungrateful boy was blaming him for some imagined slight? She was going to tear him a new one but was stopped when the table and its contents began shuddering. She looked about to find the source when her eyes landed on one Harry Potter. Whatever she had to say to her son was forgotten instantaneously, just by looking at the unholy fury in the dark haired lad's eyes.

"Tell me something, Ron," Harry began in a spine chilling voice. "What would happen if I cast a Reductor curse in between your two eyes, huh?" The entire hall was holding its breath to not miss a single word being exchanged between the participants of today's entertainment. However, part of it also stemmed from the bloodcurdling tone of the bespectacled boy currently discussing about murder, as if it were something of a hobby to him. "It could be a really interesting experiment to conduct, don't you think?"

Hermione was watching the entire sequence of events unfolding in horror. She could see that Harry was just a hair's breadth away from killing Ron in cold blood. And seeing the expression on Ron's face, assured her that Ron had already come to the same conclusion. He was more terrified of Harry now, than he could have ever been of spiders. She also knew that she couldn't stop Harry if he really wanted to do it. She still laid a hand on his arm to try and restrain him.

"Ron, if you don't want to be my guinea pig for this particular assignment, ever... in your whole life, you will refrain from insulting Hermione." He progressed calmly though his voice belied the murderous intent he possessed. "She has done a lot more than you could have ever done in your lifetime. She had been the one to find out that it had been a basilisk attacking the students. That information was so critical that hadn't she done so, I would have died and so would have your sister. So, the next time you decide to share your opinion of how great you are, please keep your comments to yourself." His voice became more even, as he continued, "moreover, while I don't mind you insulting me, just for the record, I didn't have enough time to fetch you from the Gryffindor tower. I had to leave for the Chamber as soon as possible to save your sister."

He was now more controlled, which was apparent as the table had stopped. A lot of people had let the out breaths they hadn't realized they had held.

"Ron, apologize to Hermione now and I will forgive your mistake, considering it as ignorance. You will also make sure not to insult her anymore and in time we will even forget what you said today." He spoke disregarding the bout sputtering that Ron appeared to have afflicted with. "Ignore the first of those and this friendship ends right now. We will not speak to you and you may not speak to us until you see reason, given that you still remain silent with your bitter statements. However, if you decide to proceed with your caustic remarks in the future, I assure you, I will use force to obtain your compliance."

Everyone in the hall was simply horrified to listen to the warning given by Harry Potter. They couldn't believe the venom he spouted. They even couldn't fathom the depths to which the Golden Trio's friendship seemed to have deteriorated. The only thing they knew was, 'Don't mess with Hermione Granger if you don't want the basilisk slayer after you.'

Hermione had been listening to the entire monologue by Harry and she had been heartened to see that Harry was defending her against his best friend. She knew that Harry had wanted to do so when he had told her in the hospital but she had dismissed it. She had thought that it had been a spur of the moment promise but now she realized that it was quite the opposite. He really meant to protect her from everything.

Ron couldn't understand what had just happened. He had seen his best friend turn into a cold blooded monster who had just warned him not to insult Hermione Granger and he couldn't determine how that had occurred. He did understand one thing though. He never wanted that Harry back. He didn't want that monster to come after him. He didn't want to die because he was stupid. So he did the thing he could do at best, he apologized. "I'm sorry, Hermione." He then turned around and left, no longer hungry.

The Weasleys then apologized to Harry for their family member's behavior, but Harry brushed those apologies off saying, "No need for that, folks. It wasn't you who insulted her. You have nothing to be sorry for." Mrs. Weasley still left after Ron to teach him a long overdue lesson in manners.

Harry and Hermione sat down to enjoy their meal along with the remaining Weasleys and the rest of the Hall.

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A/N:- I may seem to be apologizing too much. But, I am really sorry to not have updated for a long while. I won't bore you with my excuses. I understand I am the reason many of my dear readers have been disappointed thoroughly. So, I can only hope you folks accept my apologies. Thank You, again, for reading and reviewing.

Dumbledore is a master manipulator, but can make huge mistakes. He isn't infallible which makes his downfall all that much easier. He depends upon compulsions, mind altering, memory shifts and guilt tripping to accomplish his goals. But he is going to be more careful from now on. He is really powerful magically, so wandless compulsions are possible for him as long as they are not too powerful. Though for the ones with lasting effects he will have to use a wand. I have seen many stories where Dumbledore is nothing but a fool whose plans fail so drastically that he is rendered totally helpless. However, it is not going to be so in this case. Dumbledore will play the game and will win a few battles but ultimately lose the war. Dumbledore will be hard to bring down, though he will fall.

Thank you for taking the time to read and review. Now answers to my reviewers' questions-

LuckyMadHatter:- I understand that I may have skipped a whole lot of conversation between his parents and Harry, but most of it is something that has already been read in Harry Potter fanfiction already. While most of my story is original, I will not deny that this work of fiction has clichés. That would be a great lie, and I would rather not be called a liar. I cannot help but say that some of the ideas are similar to those of other writers because I am not unique and my ideas are not unique either. Harry has been manipulated and he will seek revenge against those who have destroyed his life. Albus is the primary perpetrator of the atrocities committed against the Potters and while his destruction will not be swift, it will be satisfying.

daithi4377:- No bonding ritual with Dobby, yes. I believe that will not be necessary, since Harry will get all the information he needs from various other sources. If Dobby were to provide him with everything important then I believe there would not be much importance for the other characters in the story. For Poppy's point, Poppy is under oath of confidentiality. She would not be able to take the matter to the proper authorities without breaking that oath and would suffer severe consequences because the oath is magical in nature. Amelia is powerful, yes. However, she doesn't suspect Albus of any wrongdoing yet. Hence, she has her guard down. She will soon realize that she has been affected magically and will take steps to prevent any further attempts at manipulating her. Moreover, it hasn't been two days since Lockhart's death, but, only one night. Lockhart was killed just as Harry was going into the chamber and his body wasn't discovered until late that night. Therefore, not two days, but, a single night has passed. Harry was in the chamber for only a few hours. Hope that answered your doubts.

daithi4377:- Again, you seem to have forgotten that Harry has encountered Tom Riddle once already. When he showed Harry the memory of him capturing Hagrid and falsely implicating him in the murder of Myrtle the Ghost. So, Harry already knows who Tom Riddle is. My story starts from the time Harry discovers that Hermione has been petrified.

daithi4377, Hawkmoon888:- Dumbledore gave Ron an award because he ventured into the forbidden forest with Harry to find out what was responsible. It takes a special kind of courage to walk into a danger that you are seriously terrified of. I believe that it does warrant a reward. It might have a significance in the story. I am not saying anything for sure, though.

A/N:- That's it when it comes to answers. And to those who consider that I have made Harry very powerful very soon, it's not as if he has the memories and power of Merlin. While his HMI might surprise you later on, I cannot say anything right now since he is only twelve and not twenty five, which is when HMI's are measured. He will have knowledge of the Potter family. That knowledge will come to him when he accesses the Potter Lordship later on. So, you'll have to wait until then. He is not all powerful and can only do spells that he has studied and practiced. When he later finds out 'The Power The Dark Lord Knows Not' he will be surprised. Being a battle mage only removes his guilt when he kills. It is not a special ability. Think of it as a soldier's mental conditioning in the army and a doctor's mental conditioning in an operating theatre. They both have to be calm while doing their jobs and show no emotion. The power might seem a bit clichéd to all but as I said, I am not so unique that I have unique ideas that haven't struck any other person.

 **And finally to the one Guest reviewer who has bashed me, I will say this, "Thank You, my friend, for your honest opinion of my story. I appreciate that you had the courage to say what you wanted to my face and I commend that. However, I will disappoint you by saying that I will not delete your comment because I am a person who is not afraid of being shown in a bad light. I will leave it right there, so that people will see, that the people who like my work are greater in number than the people who do not like it. You, my dear friend have helped me more than any other reviewer of mine. (** _ **You surely must have graduated from MIT or Oxford or Yale, my dear friend, because of the way you write and your impeccable grammar. I was completely enthralled by your literary skills.)-Please note that the words in the parenthesis are full of sarcasm. I thought it would be better to inform you so you do not misconstrue what I actually meant.**_ **Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Thank you... Love you :-) 3 3"**


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